Samcedes Song One-Shots
by TheAmazingLT
Summary: A collection of one-shots around the lives of Mercedes and Sam inspired by songs. Other characters will be mentioned.
1. Never Be The Same

**Okay, so I've read a bunch of AMAZING Glee and Samcedes stories/ one-shots and I've decided to write my own bunch of one shot 'cause I kinda love Sam and Mercedes together. So, if you have a song that you want me to base a Samcedes shot around just pm me or leave a review (I like reviews a lot...just saying). Please keep your request K or T because I can't write smut...I'm not even gonna try because it's way out of my element. Anyhow, some of the shots will be cannon compliant others will be AU. Enjoy:**

 **(PS: I don't own these characters nor the song Never be the same again by Melanie )**

* * *

 **(Post Prom)**

Sam and Mercedes grew closer after prom. Mercedes would come over after school and babysit his siblings or help him with his homework when he was not working. During those times Sam would bounce off his impression on her and share his comic and all-things-Marvel-knowledge with her. Unlike Quinn, Mercedes did not give him pity laughs or tried to humour him...no she actually found what he said funny. After weeks of friendship their bond grew deeper and deeper. She was his best friend.

 _Come on, Ooh yeah._

 _Never be the same._

 _I call you up whenever things go wrong._

 _You're always there. You are my shoulder to cry on._

 _I can't believe it took me so quite long._

 _To take the forbidden step._

 _Is this something that I might regret_

Mercedes Jones was the light in the surrounding darkness engulfing him in its grasp. While normal 17-year old high school boys were busy worrying about their reputation and impressing the hottest girl in school Sam Evans was busy worrying about helping to provide for his struggling family. At times this stress and worry would keep him awake at night and at times it drove him to tears. On days when poverty's clutches threatened to drag him down in the pit of depression Mercedes Jones would appear like a life jacket to safe him from the depths. She'd hold him while he cried his heart out; while he complains about how unfair life is...while he was breaking down. But she'd never leave him wallow in his self pity for long.

Once he was done she'd cup his tear-streaked cheeks and stare him dead in the eyes. With stubborn certainty in burning her eyes she'd tell him that this season of his life would blow over and that it would just make him stronger. Even though life sucks at the moment and it seems like all the forces were against him and his family things would change and as corny as it sounds it'll just make him stronger. As crappy as this situation is maybe it's a blessing in disguise she said and then used a Biblical metaphor which he didn't get because; honestly he never paid a lot of attention in Sunday School when he was younger and working late shifts on Saturday nights left him drowsy in church.

One night when the situation got too much again and he cried on Mercedes' shoulder he realized how much he depended on her. She was like a lighthouse in the darkness and his strength in weakness. That night he looked in Mercedes' chocolate eyes and a spark ignited in his heart. Suddenly her touch felt warmer, her big expressive eyes pulled him into their depths and her lips...oh heaven those beautiful soft-looking lips were begging his to taste them. Those thoughts scared the crap out of him: Mercedes was his best friend and he had no idea where these feelings stemmed from. Was he actually falling for her or was it his gratitude that disguised itself as infatuation and what would happen with their friendship if he pursued her only to have it blow up in his face?

 _Come on, come one_

 _Nothing ventured, nothing gained_

 _(You are the one)_

 _A lonely heart that cant be tamed_

 _(Come on, come one)_

 _I'm hoping that you feel the same._

 _This is something that I can't forget_

* * *

A week after his realization that _he_ wanted more than friendship with his best friend he found himself in the park with his mom and siblings to escape the pungent smell of mold and dust in the motel room. Whilst Stevie was chasing Stacey around with a dead bird, Sam and his mother were soaking up the rays of the morning sun.

"So, I haven't seen Mercedes at all this week." His mother began casually.

Sam shrugged.

"We're heading to nationals tomorrow, Mom. She's been busy with rehearsals and stuff." He answered.

In all honesty he was avoiding her to clear his head and figure out the depth of his feelings for her: he usually ate his homemade lunch in auditorium with Mercedes as company but now he ate in the choir room. He only gave Mercedes small smiles when passing her in the halls. In Glee he always sat between two occupied seats to ensure that Mercedes wouldn't sit next to him and intoxicate him with her fruity scent...the girl smelled like apples...at times he wondered if she would taste like them too.

His mother raised a brow at his explanation unconvinced.

"Sam, I know we don't get as much time to spend together as a family since your father and I are always out and you work long shifts at the pizza place but I can see something is bothering you. You get this constipated look like your father-" cue eye roll from Sam. "-and I have a feeling it has to do with Mercedes. So cut the nonsense and tell your mother who, mind you, spent 18 hours in labour to bring you out in the world and who had to wake up in the wee hours of the morning for the first 7 months of your life because you refused to sleep a full night. You owe me the truth so spill Samuel."

Sam rolled his eyes only to receive a whack to his head. For a frail little thing his mother sure had strength in those thin little arms. Sam quickly apologised and told his mother his fears in a rush, his Southern accent coming through the cracks.

"I dunno what to do, Mom! She's smart and funny and pretty. She smells like apples and she has like, this beautiful smile, ma. It's blindin'. She's talented and she has these massive dreams and such a strong work ethic. I got nothin' to give. She's the type of girl you wanna take to fancy places and serenade with a Mariachi band but I can't. I can't give her what she deserves...and I'm not sure if I like her because she's, you know, carin', funny, smart Mercedes who likes my jokes and watches Marvel cartoons with or because she's the girl who helps out my family. I don't know if this is some kinda hero worship or if my feelings for her are real. And what if they are real and she doesn't feel the same way 'bout me? What if I ruin such an amazin' friendship because of these feelings I don't understand? What if-"

"-you hyperventilate further and turn blue?" His mother interrupted his ramblings. "Take a breath and give your lungs some much needed air."

He obliged before finishing his sentence in a whisper casting his eyes down to his hands.

"What if I'm not good enough?"

"First of all, I don't do mediocre. I gave birth to a funny, sweet, amazing boy and any girl including Ms Mercedes Jones would be lucky to have you. With that said all the reasons you listed against dating her are exactly the reasons you should. Yes, she's funny and pretty...I'm not sure of the apples thing 'cause I don't go smelling people-"

Sam's cheeks turned crimson.

"-she is the kinda girl that guys would want to try to do big romantic gestures for but have you noticed that she doesn't need them. I've watched the two of you sitting on the steps outside the motel doing homework and the two of you look like your having a blast. She doesn't expect, nor does she need you hiring her a Mariachi band to serenade her. I cannot give you advice on your feelings because I don't know how you feel for her. That's only something you can answer. So pray about it and ask for guidance."

* * *

That night he went on his knees, in the bathroom because it was the only place he could get privacy, and ask God for a sign that his feelings for Mercedes were real. That night he had a dream of him and Mercedes in an apartment:

 _Mercedes was glaring the cute little rat-like dog in Sam's arms threatening its life whilst Sam was trying to defend poor_ _McConaughey,_ _. Sam said something about the dog being a practice baby for them to which Mercedes rolled her eyes at before leaving him and traumatised dog in the living room._

 _Sam pet the dog's head and looked at it with apologetic eyes._

 _"Don't worry; Mommy loves you. It's just that time of the month again."_

 _"I heard you, you ass!" Mercedes shouted from another room._

 _Sam gasped and placed his hand on one of the dog's ears._

 _" 'Cedes not in front of the children!" he screamed scandalized_.

Sam walked around with a blinding smile the rest of the day. If that wasn't a sign from above he had no idea what a sign was! He did a small fist pump in bed and whispered a thanks to the Lord above before getting ready to leave for New York. He was going to tell Mercedes how much he liked her and he was gonna do it in New York. He just hoped the short curvaceous beauty felt the same way.

 _I thought that we would just be friends._

 _Things will never be the same again._

 _It's just the beginning, it's not the end._

 _Things will never be the same again._

 _It's not a secret anymore._

 _Now we've opened up the door._

 _Starting tonight and from now on._

 _We'll never, never be the same again. Never be the same again._

Sam knew he wanted to tell her he liked her but he did not know how or when. The fact that Mercedes seemed to be ignoring him was not making things any easier for him. He gave her a little shoulder shimmy when the two of them found themselves sitting next to each other whilst Britney sang about her cup. The only response he got was a cold shoulder that left him confused.

He couldn't get Mercedes alone to ask her what the matter was and before he knew it the New Directions were onstage preforming their hearts out. After their performance he ran to the short girl and threw his arms around her in glee. He felt her stiffen in his arms and before he could ask her what the matter was Mike and Tina grabbed him from behind.

Much later the whole club was standing behind Mr Shue waiting to hear if they were at least in the top ten...they weren't. Sam looked at Mercedes' broken hearted expression and it took all his willpower not to grab the girl and press her against him but taking her discomfort on stage when he hugged her in accord he stopped himself. Minutes later the disappointed club found themselves in the girls' room. When Jesse said that the Finchel kiss ruined them and Santana started shouting profanities in English and Spanish Sam noticed Mercedes take her black trench coat before slipping out of the room undetected. Once Rachel fled to another room and Santana was calmer Sam slipped out of the room in search of Mercedes.

He found her sitting on a bench in front of the hotel. Sam could see tear streaks on her full cheeks as she played with her fingers. Sam made his way towards her and sat at the opposite end of the bench.

"Cedes, what's wrong?" he asked gently.

"We lost." She sounded cold and distant.

"Yeah-" he moved a little closer. "-that sucks. But I know it's not the only reason you're upset. You've been giving me the cold shoulder all day."

Mercedes sighed and stood up. Sam mimicked her and touched her shoulder. She turned to face him. The dim light of a streetlight enabled Sam to see the fire in her eyes. He let go of her shoulder as if she was on fire

"Look, Sam, let's not pretend we're friends. You made it perfectly clear last week that we're not friends. You needed someone and you latched on to me. But you don't need me anymore, Sam. I'm used to people using my friendship and then abandoning me. It happened with Quinn and with Kurt, so I'm used to it but that does not mean that it hurts less every time. So, I need you to give me time to get into the swing of ignoring you and living our lives as strangers-"

Before she could continue Sam's body took control and he pressed his lips against hers. The kiss lasted only a second but in that second his heart beat skyrocketed. He opened his eyes to see wide confused brown eyes staring back at him. Sam swallowed the lump in his throat.

"I-I" he began before taking a deep breath. "I like you, 'Cedes, a lot. And I've been ignoring you because I've been trying to figure out the depth of my feelings for you and where they stemmed from. I wasn't sure if I liked you because of the reasons guys usually like girls or because I'm thankful for all you've done for me and my family. But I had this dream-" He noticed the look on her face and embarrassment shot from him. "-It- it wasn't a dirty dream. Anyhow the dream made me realise that I like you for you and not for what you've done for me- not that I'm not thankful for all you've done for me." He took a deep breath and took her cold small hands in his larger ones. "I really like you 'Cedes and I want to be more than your friend and I hope you feel the same way about me. There's no turning back now." He whispered the last part to himself. "Do you?"

Mercedes bit her plump bottom lip and moved her gaze from his eyes to her shoes. The cool New York air caused goosebumps on her exposed legs. Sam let go of her hands and cupped her wet cheeks. He wiped away her fallen tears and lifted her jaw forcing her to look at him. He could see the doubt lingering in her chocolate eyes.

"I know Kurt and Quinn dropped you but I promise you I won't, 'Cedes. If you don't feel the same-" he swallowed the lump in his throat. "-If you don't feel the same I understand and I'll try to ignore my feelings so that we can be friends but I can't not have you in my life. I know I don't have much to offer you at the moment but once things get better I'll take you on a dozen dates...that's if you'd have me like that."

There he laid out all his feelings. All he could do now is hope that she felt the same or else things between them would be awkward...very awkward.

"I-I like you too." She stuttered. The Diva in training mentally rolled her eyes at herself for sounding so...so unlike herself.

A beautiful lopsided grin stretched over his face.

"Well, since you like me and I like you..." Sam let go of her face and kneeled in front of her. "-would you Ms Mercedes Jones be my girlfriend?"

Mercedes laughed.

"You're so corny. And yeah, I'd love to be your girlfriend."

Sam's smile widens as he got off his knee and grabbed her in a hug. Sam's arms tightened around the short girl. His body accepting the heat of hers. He closed his eyes burying his nose in her hair and breathing in the scent of her DKNY perfume mixed with her natural soft scent.

"Are you sniffing me?" Mercedes asked her voice laced with amusement.

"Hush, you're ruining the moment." Sam said with pink cheeks trying to change the topic but refusing to let her go.

Mercedes tried to move away so she could look him in the eyes but Sam refused to let her go. She rolled her eyes and tightened her arms around his waist. She pressed her cheek to his chest and mumbled:

"You ruined it when you sniffed me, Scooby Doo."

She could feel Sam smile against the crown of her head. After a minute of just standing in each other's arms they both decided that they better return to the rest of club before they sent a search party.

"Sam?"

Mercedes stopped walking and looked at their intertwined fingers. The young blonde looked at his girlfriend.

"Yeah?"

Mercedes searched for the right way to phrase the words. She bit her lip and sighed before running a hand through her hair.

"Can we, like, not tell anybody about us yet."

Sam's expression changed from excited to sad.

"No-no, it's not like that, Sam. I'm not ashamed of you and your family's situation, I promise you. I-I just...my dating record is non-existent and I don't wanna get bombarded by questions and unnecessary attention. I want to go on my own pace before sharing what we have with the world. Does that make sense?"

Sam thought about it for a second and nodded. "I understand what you mean and I don't want that unnecessary attention either. When I started dating Quinn I did it for popularity and I dated Santana to make Quinn jealous and we both know how disastrous those two very public relationships were and I don't want a repeat of that. Nether do I want the student body look at you weirdly for dating a poor homeless kid-"

Mercedes opened her mouth to tell him she did not care about his social status but Sam held up a finger to silence her.

"-and I know you could care less about that but I do. Call it pride but I want everybody to know you're my girlfriend I can provide for you and take you out on dates like a real man should. I know it's primitive but what the hell."

Mercedes smiled and stretched to kiss Sam on his jaw since she was to short too reach his cheek.

"Plus I think all non-Asian relationships in Glee are cursed." Sam joked as he wrapped an arm securely around her waist.

Mercedes laughed and rolled eyes before focusing her gaze on Sam's pink inviting lips. Sam's eyes were transfixed on her gloss-coated mouth. Slowly he leaned in using his free hand to lift her jaw. His mouth was on hers. Slowly Sam led her mouth in gentle Waltz- slow and sweet yet toe-curling good. Her inexperienced mouth followed his lead and her lips moulded perfectly against his. Sam felt Mercedes' fingers in his hair gently tugging the blonde strands which caused him to moan against her lips. In that moment he wanted nothing more than to slip his tongue into her mouth and test his hypothesis of her tasting like apple pie but he had to resist the urge because this was all new to Mercedes. Plus he wanted to take his sweet time rolling his tongue against hers savouring her taste as he teached her how to French kiss in privacy. In all honesty he found her innocence beyond sexy. He was an eager teacher especially with Ms Jones as his pupil.

The need for oxygen pulled the young lovers away from one another. Both their eyes were still closed. Sam rested his forehead against hers and breathed her Tic-Tac scented breath and strawberry scented gloss. He licked his lips and tasted her fruity gloss on them. He took a deep breath before opening his eyes.

"We really need to get back now," he whispered against her lips.

Mercedes opened her eyes and nodded still flush from the kiss. It took all of Sam not to throw his fist in the air and do a body roll, Knowing that he's the reason behind that flustered face made him want to dance. So rather than making a fool of himself he smirked and suggested she stay outside a bit to catch her breath whilst he goes inside to the boys room so it doesn't look too suspicious, And if anyone asked she went outside for fresh air and to get away from Santana's death threats while he got lost on his way back to the boy's room.

Sam pressed a lingering kiss to her lips before winking and heading back into the hotel. Mercedes smiled and sat back down on the bench staring at the night sky as she tried to recollect herself...

* * *

 **So...what do we think?**


	2. Everything Has Changed

**I have decided that the first few one-shots will be in chronological order and the rest will be random.**

 **Thank you for the reviews thus far Monni2215 and Isis Aurora Tomoe**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or the song '** _ **Everything Has Changed'**_ **By Taylor Swift off the album** _ **RED.**_

* * *

It has been two week since Sam told Mercedes how he felt about her. The last time the two were alone was on the Monday morning after returning from nationals when they went out for coffee at The Lima Bean. The rest of the week was hectic between classes, trying to keep Santana from killing Rachel in Glee, church choir practice for Mercedes and work for Sam. Because of their hectic schedules and secret relationship, there was only time for quick pecks on the lips before school. The two of them at least shared text messages and Mercedes called him every night. Slowly Mercedes started falling deeper in like with Sam. It was not love...it was far too early for love but it was a little deeper than like.

Maybe that is why she was lounging on the couch on a rainy Saturday afternoon staring at her phone waiting for Sam to reply to her message even though she knew he was working so he probably would not reply until he was out of the watchful eyes of his manager. Mercedes groaned aloud once she realized she was one of those desperate girls waiting for a boy to call her. But it was not like she had something better to do; due to the unusual heavy weather there was a power outage so she could not watch TV. And since she forgot to charge her laptop she could not watch movies. Her parents left this morning to visit her aunt who lives three hours away and Dante- her older brother- was not arriving home from college until later tonight. So in the midst of boredom Mercedes' mind wandered to her boyfriend.

 _All I knew this morning when I woke up_

 _Is I know something now_

 _Know something now I didn't before_

 _And all I've seen since eighteen hours ago_

 _Is green eyes and freckles and your smile_

 _In the back of my mind making me feel like..._

She had a boyfriend! Not only was he pretty cute, he was funny, sweet, caring, corny, goofy and everything she didn't even knew she wanted in a guy. She has memorized every detail of his young face from the amount of pale freckles dusted over his nose to the dimple on his left cheek. She lost count on all the times she got lost in his grassland eyes full of child-like wonder that she admired. Even with everything happening with his family, he still had this light around him...a light that could not help but draw one in. She wanted to know how he kept on smiling when he had the weight of the world on his shoulders; she wanted to know how he would get back on his feet when his situation got the best of him at times. She wanted to know what made him smile, what his biggest fear in life is. She wanted to get to his core and undress him layer for layer.

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better._

 _Know you better now_

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _Know you better now._

 _I just wanna know you better now, know you better_

 _Know you better now._

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _Know you better_

Sam changed her views completely. She was a strong independent woman and she told herself she did not need a guy- mostly because she never thought she'd find a boy who'd like a girl like her. She was not a Barbie doll and she was opinionated so she chose the song, by her idol Aretha Franklin, _The Sister's Are Doing It For Themselves_ as a theme song to her life. But then Sam came and changed the song to _Two Are Better Than One_ from Boys Like Girls. He showed her that she could be awesome with somebody else next to her. He showed her that he accepted her even though she was not a thin blonde and a self-proclaimed diva. She loved having someone belong to her and she loved belonging to someone.

 _'Cause all I know is we said "Hello"_

 _And your eyes look like coming home_

 _All I know is a simple name_

 _Everything has changed._

 _All I know is you held the door_

 _You'll be mine and I'll be yours_

 _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

 _And all my walls stood tall painted blue_

 _And I'll take them down,_

 _Take them down and open up the door for you._

There was a hard knock on the front door bringing Mercedes out of daydreaming. She quickly rolled off the couch and checked the time on her cellphone. It was three pm. Mercedes knew it was not her parents since they sent her a text a few minutes ago that they'll be home late or if the weather did not change that they'd be spending the night at her aunts and her brother called her to tell her he was still five hours away about thirty minutes ago. Tina was at Mike's for the day and Kurt was spending time with Rachel watching musicals...

That means the only logical explanation is that there is an escaped convict on her front porch. Yeah, she watched _No Good Deed_ before the electricity went out and yeah it made her paranoid enough to go to the kitchen and grab a knife. The obnoxious knocking mixed with the roaring thunder echoed through the halls. Mercedes tip-toed down the hall nearly falling on her face when her socks nearly slipped out beneath her but luckily she regained her balance before she could fall on the knife and die a death that belonged on 1000 Ways To Die. Mercedes arrived at the door and unlocked it before taking a deep breath and turning the knob. The knife was tightly held in her hand ready to go on the defence as she slowly opened the door ready to show whomever that this wasn't a horror movie where the black person dies first or the virgin ends up as some live sacrifice. Nope. No Sir. Not Mercedes Jones.

"Hey!" Sam said with an excited grin on his face.

Mercedes raised a confused brow at her boyfriend standing on her front porch. He was still in his work clothes but had one of Finn's jackets on.

"What are you doing here?" She asked shifting her gaze to the umbrella leaning against the chair swing.

Sam ignored her question and curiously asked.

"What's with the knife?"

Mercedes blushed and put the knife down on the side table next to some antique vase making room for Sam to enter the house.

"I was watching a thriller before you came and it kinda made me a little paranoid. For all I know you could have been a serial killer ready to kidnap me and offer me as a virgin sacrifice so I had to be prepared to protect myself. I'm too fabulous to die."

Sam chuckled shaking his head as he closed the front door. He turned back to the short girl and snaked his arm around her waist.

"Well, now I'm here to protect you," he whispered looking down at her with mischievous eyes..

Mercedes tried hiding her grin by biting her lip and rolling her eyes.

"I can protect myself, thank you very much. You don't know this but I'm a samurai. The only person that needs protection here is you; I have a feeling all those muscles are just for show."

Sam grinned.

"Oh you've been checking out my muscles-"

"Really, Sam, I just told you I'm a samurai and you just focus on the muscle part." She pouted.

Sam smirked kissing her forehead. She hugged him burying her face in his chest inhaling the scent of pepperoni, cheese and the musky wooden scent she linked to Sam.

"What are doing here?" she whispered in his chest.

Hisbaritone voice washed over her causing tingles up her spine.

"The power went off so the boss sent us all home since we don't have generators. So, I've decided to spend the rest of the day with my girl since you're all alone. I wouldn't want a serial killer to kidnap you or something-hey!"

Mercedes punched him in the back.

"Abuse."

Mercedes rolled her eyes before looking up at the handsome young boy courting her. He pressed his cold hands against her cheeks and lifted her face so that he could kiss her. Mercedes' eyes fluttered shut while her arms tightening around his waist. He grazed her lips gently, his breath caressing over the sensitive mouth. He slowly led their mouths in a graceful waltz causing a wild lot of butterflies to erupt in her belly. Tingles of delight ran up her spine whilst her toes curled in delight in her socks. Sam's tongue swept over her lips asking entrance for the first time. All their kisses thus far were chaste pecks. She sighed in delight opening her mouth.

 _And all I feel in my stomach is butterflies_

 _The beautiful kind making up for lost time_

 _Taking flight making me feel right._

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _Know you better now_

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _Know you better now._

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _Know you better now_

 _I just wanna know you, know you, know you_

Sam's tongue slid into her mouth. He gently licked her tongue tasting her (and yeah, he was right, she did taste like apples). His fingers slid through her soft relaxed curly hair. His tongue explored every inch of the expedition called her mouth before sweeping over her tongue again. He gentle coaxed her to return the kiss. She shyly swept her tongue against his, her movements unsure. Sam smiled against her lips rolling his tongue around hers leading her in a slow toe-curling dance making her sigh content. Mercedes grabbed a hand full of his jacket trying to pull him closer basking in the waves of warmth coming from him. She stood on the tip of her toes drinking him in.

Too soon, the need for air became too great for them to ignore reluctantly forcing them apart. Sam stared down at his flustered girlfriend softly painting as she stood with her eyes closed basking in the intimacy of the moment. He closed his eyes and rested his forehead against hers trying to calm his erratic heart. He breathed fruity sent in as he twisted a few hair strands around his index fingers. He pressed his lips against hers for a short yet heartbreaking beautiful soft kiss eliciting a sigh from her.

 _'Cause all I know is we said "Hello"_

 _And your eyes look like coming home_

 _All I know is a simple name_

 _Everything has changed._

 _All I know is you held the door_

 _You'll be mine and I'll be yours_

 _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

Mercedes opened her eyes only to gaze in Sam's beautiful eyes- or rather eye because the other one hid beneath the hair in his face. She unwrapped one of her arms from his waist and swept the hair away from his eyes. Rather than return her hands to his waist she started drawing small circles on the side of his neck with her thumb. He smiled at her. She returned the smile and took a deep before returning her hands to his waist inside his jacket. She pressed her cheek against his heart listening to the melody of his beating heart.

 _Come back and tell me why_

 _I'm feeling like I've missed you all this time_

 _Oh, oh, oh_

 _And meet me there tonight_

 _And let me know that it's not all in my mind._

 _I just wanna know you better, know you better_

 _know you better now._

 _I just wanna know you, know you, know you_

"I like your hair like this." Sam said taking a whiff of her cinnamon smelling hair brushing her shoulder blades..

"My hairstylist cancelled on me today. She's coming tomorrow after church to put in my weave." Mercedes said.

"Why not wear your hair like this?" He asked confused. He liked her natural hair. If there was one thing he would never understand it would be black hair care.

Mercedes let him go and rolled her eyes.

"Sam, I'm not going to explain the complexities of black hair to you today. I'll let Chris Rock explain it to you- he made a whole documentary about it. One day when the power comes on again, I'll show it to you, hopefully it'll answer all your questions. Speaking of hair, when are you gonna cut yours? Not that I'm not enjoying the whole Samson action you got goin' on but I'd like to see your eyes once in a while."

He smiled and kissed her nose.

"Dad said he'd do it but he's kinda busy and I don't trust my mom with scissors close to my head."

He took her hand and led her to her living room.

"I can cut it. I know my way around a pair of scissors."

He shot her a lopsided smile over his shoulder.

"I bet you do, babe but I got other plans for this afternoon: namely, making out with my girlfriend- who looks all kinds of sexy in her Spongebob pyjama pants and Spiderman shirt. Plus I'm digging the Dora The Explorer socks."

"I didn't expect any company, okay. After I showered this morning, I looked for something comfy to wear and these items were the first things I saw in my cupboard, okay? And don't be hatin' Dora. Thanks to her I can at least have a basic conversation in Spanish because heaven knows Mr Shue isn't gonna teach me it."

Sam laughed and let go of her hand once they arrived in the living room. Immediately he went to the coffee table and took a huge gulp of her Caprisun like it was his. He kicked of his knock-of Converse before falling back into the couch he claimed was 'heaven in furniture form. He sighed and closed his eyes as he snuggled into the couch.

"I'm gonna go get a blanket so we can cuddle." Mercedes announced.

"I do like me some cuddling."

"'Course you do."

She got the knife she left on the side table close to the front door and returned it to its cutlery family before running upstairs to grab a blanket before returning downstairs to Sam. Once she got there, she saw he got rid of his jacket but he was still sprawled over the couch.

"Make space for me too." Mercedes nudged his legs with hers.

He opened an eye and said 'neh' before wrapping his arms around her waist and nudging her towards him. She tried escaping his hold but her nudged her again causing her to fall on him. She looked down at him with embarrassment written all over her face. She was about to get off him yet him tightening his hold around her prohibited her from moving away.

"Sam, I'm-I'm too heavy." She whispered focusing her gaze on his shirt.

"Bullshit." Was all he said. With his other arm, he picked up the purple blanket that fell on the floor and manoeuvred it around them both.

 _All I know is we said "Hello"_

 _And your eyes look like coming home_

 _All I know is a simple name_

 _Everything has changed_

 _All I know is you held the door._

 _You'll be mine and I'll be yours_

 _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed._

He kissed again with such passion and sincerity that left no room for argument telling her with no words that to him she was perfect. His arms tightened around her waist whilst her hands got lost in a sea of blond hair. Warmth spread through every inch of her body as she melted into him. After the kiss, his lips lingered on hers. His tongue swept over her swollen lips tasting the berry lip balm on them. His eyes dared her to ruin the moment with the obnoxious notion that she was too heavy or too anything. In his eyes every soft curve, smart remark and dramatic outburst is what made her the Mercedes he wanted so deeply. She rolled her eyes at the commanding glint in his eyes and pulled away so that she could rest her ear against his chest to listen to the lullaby of his drumming heart. She closed her eyes as she felt him rub small circles on her back and press a kiss in her hair.

 _All I know is we said "Hello"_

 _So dust off your highest hopes_

 _All I know is pouring rain_

 _And everything has changed._

 _All I know is new found grace_

 _All my days I'll know your face_

No words were needed between the two young lovers as they lied in each other's arms listening to the rain against the window. Mercedes sighed slowly falling asleep in Sam's arms as the thunder growled outside and in that moment she felt content...

 _All I know since yesterday is everything has changed_

* * *

 **So, thoughts?**


	3. Rockets

**Part III: Samcedes at the amusement park at night.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters. Nor do I own the song _Rockets_ by Ella Henderson of her album _Chapter 1_**

* * *

 _Oh nobody knows but you_

 _How to make me come alive_

 _And oh, my heart explodes- Kaboom._

 _Like rockets in the sky._

"Nope." Mercedes said stubbornly shaking her head.

"Come on, babe."

"Evans, read my lips: 'NO'."

"Come on 'Cedes, why not?"

Mercedes rubbed her chin pretending to think about it.

"The probability of a mechanical malfunction ending in death is 14.78900001% and what if while we spin around a bird flies into my face at such a high speed that it's beak goes through my eye into my brain-"

"You just made that figure up and it's night time" Sam interjected smartly slightly amused by his girlfriend dramatic antics.

"-Okay, a bat can fly into my mouth and infect me with some incurable virus-"

Sam rolled his eyes at his girlfriend and tugged her towards the machine she was currently refusing to go on.

"-or a screw can come loose forcing the machine off its axis with us on it. And then, we'll fly through the air towards the rollercoaster and then the rollercoaster will fall on top of us. Or-or what if that metal thingy that they pull over your head breaks mid ride and I fly out of the thing?"

Sam threw his head back laughing at the short girl.

"I knew I shouldn't have let you watch all those Final Destination movies," Sam muttered.

Mercedes bit her lip in embarrassment and tried ignoring the heat spreading to her cheeks. She hit him for the remark.

"Whatever, Sam, but seriously, do we have to? It looks so nauseating." Mercedes said staring at the lights on the contraption in front of her. She watched the people spinning around in a circle at super speed before looking back at her gorgeous boyfriend to see him pout and give her puppy dog eyes.

She had to admit her boy looked all kinds of sexy tonight. He had on a black shirt that was tight in all the right places paired with black jeans and biker boots. His long hair was swept backwards from subconsciously running his hands threw it during their night out.

Sam saved all the tips he made for the past two weeks and even decline to work overtime so that he could take his girl on a proper date. He decided to take her to the amusement park at night because all the lights made him think of Christmas. Plus, amusement parks at night were just more romantic than in the day time. They have been on their date for nearly three hours now, sharing food and sweets, going on rides and just enjoying each other's company. They went into the house of horrors where Mercedes screamed her lungs out. And damn that girl had one hell of a scream. Now most guys would take the opportunity to play the hero and protect the damsel in distress from all the fake boogeymen jumping out at them. Sam, however was too busy busting a gut laughing at his girlfriend's animated reactions which resulted at him getting hit more than a few times...and dang, the girl had one hell of a punch.

"'Cedes, come on we went on the rollercoaster. This is nothing compared to the rollercoaster. This is, like, it's baby distant cousin."

"Yeah, but I'm gonna get dizzy and there's also the probability that afterwards I'll be puking my guts out. You've been feeding me food the whole night Mr. Evans. If I didn't know better I'd say your fattening me up so that you can eat me."

He smirked and snaked his arms around her waist.

"Well you do look sugary sweet-" his eyes ran over her outfit consisting out of a light brown empire-waist sleeved summer dress and a jean jacket. "-now let's find out if you taste like sugar too?"

He pressed his lips to hers and licked her vanilla flavored lip-gloss. It took all of him not to get lost in the kiss and seek her tongue but he had to be mindful that Mercedes was not a huge fan of PDA. Plus he wouldn't want to make the other people around them jealous because honestly, his lips and hers...they are magic together. He reluctantly pulled away and looked down at her.

"Yep, delicious," he whispered.

Mercedes rolled her eyes with a smile on her face. The short kiss left her body in a state of havoc, she had butterflies in her belly, bursts of fire shot through her and her heart was threatening to burst through her chest. She cleared her throat once she saw the glint in Sam's eyes.

"Fine, I'll go on the tilt-a-whirl but if some guy hacks the system like on _CSI: Cyber_ and I end up dying I'll be haunting you."

"Noted." He said before fist pumping the air doing a body roll.

She burst out laughing as she saw the looks people were giving Sam. She decided that it looked too fun to do alone so she copied him so that her boyfriend wasn't all alone in embarrassing himself. They laughed at each other and argued about who did it better but both knew Mercedes won hands down. She had more soul and hips so of course she won.

"I'll teach you."

"Whatever, my body roll was far superior."

"If that's what keeps the bad dreams away than okay."

The couple stood third in the line waiting for the current rotation to end. Mercedes hooked her arms through Sam's and rested her head against his shoulder as they waited. She basked in his warmth and scent closing her eyes. She was slowly falling asleep so she nearly had a heart attack when the worker loudly shouted for the next batch of people to get on.

 _Are you some kind of mind reader_

 _'Cause you know all the things to say_

 _You brighten up my darkest days, days yeah_

 _I'm not afraid to say that I need ya_

 _And I know it sounds insane_

 _But boy I never felt this way, way yeah_

They walked inside the machine and looked for a place to stand that was furthest from the door (Mercedes would rather be safe than sorry). She double checked that the metal around her chest was secure prompting a chuckle from Sam next to her. Once the tilt-a-whirl was full two equally bored employees walk around the chamber collecting tickets. Mercedes squeezed Sam's hand quickly before letting go and placing both her hands firmly on the metal rods on either side of her. The employees closed the door.

Seconds later the room slowly started spinning. Mercedes took a deep breath her gazing at her boyfriend who was looking at her with a goofy grin. The speed of the ride progressed until all Mercedes could see was colors blurring around her. Screams of joy and terror floated around her. Adrenaline shot through her veins increasing her heartbeats. Her body was tightly pressed against the metal behind her. She closed her eyes smiling and thoroughly enjoying herself. Too soon, the ride slowed down until it inevitably stopped.

Sam looked over at his girlfriend and in that moment he realized just how beautiful she was. Her doe-eyes shone with excitement, her hair was standing in nearly every direction and she wore the biggest smile he ever saw. That's what he liked most about Mercedes- the smaller things in life made her smile.

"I wanna go again," she said.

All he could do was nod. He felt a bit dizzy but if his girl wanted to go again he would just so that he could see her beautiful face flustered and overjoyed. He could honestly say he never had this magnitude of his feelings for a girl before Mercedes. Yes, he made himself believe he was in love with Quinn but this thing he was developing for Mercedes it was something far more serious...something deeper

They went two more times until Sam just could not anymore. Mercedes had to lead the dizzy boy out of machine eliciting snickers from a group of middle school kids that thought he was weak. But Sam could care less at the moment he had better things to worry about like trying to keep his brain from falling out of his ears and trying to get his legs to work properly. Mercedes led him to a nearby bench and rubbed his back as he sat with his head in his hands begging to world to just stop spinning. It took Sam nearly ten minutes to regain control of his body.

 _Three, two, one look where we are_

 _Got me launching to the stars_

 _Woah, let's go._

 _And oh, nobody knows but you_

 _How to make me come alive_

 _And oh. my heart explodes- Kaboom_

 _Like rockets in the sky._

"Well, it's a few almost nine and I don't think your body can take anymore rides. So you wanna go home yet?" She asked staring at her watch. Her curfew was at ten so she and Sam had ample time for a good make out session..

"You're right about my body not being able to take more but we still have enough time for me to win you a stuffed animal!" Sam announced standing up. He held out his hand to Mercedes.

She smiled at him and accepted his hand.

"You know you don't have to win me a stuffed animal, Sam. This date has already been magical enough."

"Nope, I have to. This is just something a man has to do for his lady-" Mercedes rolled her eyes with a grin; her insides instantly warming up. "-plus I have a few more tickets and not using them would be a waste of money. So hush and let me be a man."

Sam ended up in front of the 'Man-O-Meter' promising her she would get her stuffed animal. Sam lifted the cartoon-sized mallet over his head and hit the mark. The meter rose until it reached _'Little Mama's Baby'_. Mercedes lost the fight of keeping her laughter in. She grabbed her stomach and laughed her butt off as tears slid down her cheeks. Even the worker was having trouble keeping an amused smile from slipping on his face. Sam grabbed her hand and pulled her after him grumbling that the machine was fixed. She tried her best to humor him but she just could not stop laughing at him. He then changed his story to 'not fully recovering from the tilt-a-whirl yet'. They then ended up in front a booth where one had to shoot moving objects. Sam ended up killing it regaining some of the masculinity the Man-O-Meter stole from him. When the guy asked her wat she wanted she pointed to the big green and black tiger on the highest shelf.

"I'm gonna name him Garfield after Garfield Logan aka Beast Boy from the Teen Titans," Mercedes told Sam as they walked hand in hand towards her car.

Sam stopped for a moment and just stared at her.

"You have no idea how sexy you are when you speak sci-fi, babe. It's like, the hottest thing ever." Sam said fanning himself with his free hand.

Mercedes rolled her eyes smiling at him. Of course Sam would find comic and superhero-talk a turn on. She was not as deep as he was into the Sci-fi thing but she could appreciate a good comic or watch a superhero movie or cartoon (not that anybody other than her family and Sam knew of this). She developed a love for Teen Titans when her brother introduced her to it and she was heartbroken when it ended and then they bring a terrible spin-off which was nothing more than insult to injury _(...yeah this diva could get her dork on at times)._

"Only you, Sam, only you," she chuckled.

 _Hit me like a crash of thunder_

 _Yeah, you knocked me off my feet_

 _And promised that you'll never leave, yeah._

 _This must be a spell I'm under_

 _'Cause if I'm dreaming let me sleep_

 _'Cause I don't ever wanna break free, no._

Once they reached her car, she put Garfield in the backseat. After she closed the door and turned around, Sam pressed her against the car. He held her hands in his and pressed kisses on he knuckles before kissing her forehead. He stared in her eyes hypnotizing her with his gaze.

"I had an amazing time tonight, 'Cedes." He said. Mercedes noted he smelled like the cotton candy they ate earlier.

"Me too."

He smiled and kissed her nose before turning serious.

"I know I don't have much money to spend or much time to spend alone with you since babysitting my siblings together isn't much of a date. I-I just wanna say that I appreciate you 'Cedes and this is probably gonna be our last date for a while but I just need you to be patient because when we get back on our feet I'm gonna court the pants off you-" An awkward pause with Mercedes staring at him wide-eyed. A dark blush spread over his cheeks. "I-I didn't mean it like that. Seriously, I promise, it just kinda came out like I was insinuatin' that I wanted to 'you-know. I'm not, I promise...not that I wouldn't want to you-know with you- I-I think I'm just gonna shut up now." He whispered the latter to himself and stared at his shoes.

Mercedes giggled. She could not believe that her boyfriend was so damn adorable, like seriously. She kinda feared that her dating Sam Evans is nothing more than a dream and that she would wake up heartbroken to find herself in a world where Sam only had eyes for Quinn and she went by in life being unnoticed. If this were a dream then she would rather not wake up because frankly she was freaking damn happy.

She laced her fingers in his before bring his hands to her lips.

"Come on we better get on the road if I want to be on time for curfew." He nodded and let go off her hands. He got into the passengers' side of her old Camry.

 _Three, two, one look where we are_

 _Got me launching to the stars_

 _Woah, let's go._

 _And oh, nobody knows but you_

 _How to make me come alive_

 _And oh. my heart explodes- Kaboom_

 _Like rockets in the sky._

 _Like rockets can't stop this._

 _Our love is hotter than flames_

 _We're shooting out of this place, yeah._

 _Like rockets we got this_

 _And I know it won't ever change_

 _'Cause were shooting out of this place, oh_

15 minutes later and a car ride filled with singing along to the radio, they arrived in front of the motel. Mercedes killed the engine and the two sat in comfortable silence drinking in each other's presence. Sam did not want to leave and he did not want the night to end yet. He could not remember when last he had such fun..

"So what was the best part of the night for you?" He asked playing with her hair.

She smirked.

"Watching you get bested by the Man-O-Meter, Little Mama's Baby." Mercedes cooed.

Sam pouted and crossed his arms.

"I was gonna give you a goodnight kiss but now I don't think I will since you're so mean. And that thing was rigged, okay?"

Mercedes chuckled.

"Whatever you say, Sam. And FYI if you don't wanna feel my hugs and kisses I'll give them to Garfield while lying in my bed tonight in that Spiderman shirt you are so fond of."

Sam could not believe it, she was trying to get him jealous of a stuffed tiger...and it worked. The stuffed tiger would be keeping her company every night whilst he lies in bed thinking about her miles away. Life is all types of unfair at times.

"You suck, Mercedes." He pouted.

She stuck out her tongue at him.

"I could call Puck instead since he and Lauren broke up."

"I'll kill him. That reminds me the two of us should really have a man to man after summer. That nickname he has for you- inappropriate."

Mercedes raised a brow.

"It wasn't inappropriate when you weren't dating me."

He shrugged: "In the past few weeks I've become more socially conscious, what can I say?"

Mercedes chuckled under her breath shaking her head.

A comfortable silence soon engulfed the lovers. Sam was staring at their intertwined fingers studying their differences illuminated by a nearby streetlight drowning the car with light. Her small soft coco hands were such a contrast to his pale rough ones. Her fingers were delicate from years of piano playing whilst his were rough from guitar playing. She was his soulful piano; beautiful and classic while he was her guitar; light and whimsical, sometimes overlooked as such a common instrument but when in the right hands something beautiful. Together they could create beautiful music...together they were beautiful.

Sam kissed all ten her fingers before letting go of her hands and cupping her cheek with his right hand. The kiss started as slow...like an introduction to a beautiful song. She accepted him inside her mouth letting him taste her...letting him brand her with his breath. Her hands moved to his neck pulling him closer to her. Her insides exploded with fireworks. Her heart came alive. Her blood burned inside her veins.

The need for air drove them apart but Sam was far from done. He trailed kisses from her forehead to her nose, her jaw and then the side of her neck. He gently kissed her skin before sucking it. His tongue swept over the skin eliciting a whimper from her and making her shiver in ecstasy. She could feel Sam smile against her neck before he returned his lips to hers and pressed a soft kiss on her swollen mouth.

"Now you and I both know Garfield can't do that," he said smugly.

Mercedes rolled her eyes at him before looking at her phone and sighing.

"You really have to go now, Sam, or else I won't be home in time and my dad will give me 'The-Jones-Glare-Of-Disappointment,' Mercedes said as if him leaving physically pained her.

Sam sighed and pressed another gentle kiss to her lips before opening the door.

"Night Cedes, I'll see you tomorrow after church?"

"Yep thanks for reminding me: my parents are having a BBQ after church and ya'll are invite- wait did I just say 'ya'll'? I really spend too much time with you. Anyhow, you and the fam are invited. Tell the kids to bring their bathing suits."

He smirked.

"Will I see you in your bathing suit?" He asked slyly.

"Dream on, Little Mama's Baby."

"You not gonna let that go, are you?" Sam sighed.

Mercedes shook her head with a huge grin on her face.

He rolled his eyes.

"Anyhow, I'm gonna bring my swimming trunks maybe I'll convince you to swim with me once you see my abs."

Mercedes blushed shaking her head.

"Keep on dreaming, Evans. Your abs aren't magical."

"I'd rather keep on swimming. And baby, they are."

"Really, Finding Nemo?"

He gave her a lopsided grin.

"I'll ask my parents, 'kay?"

She nodded.

"And if they need some convincing tell your dad I'm making my Nana's apple pie he loves so much."

He chuckled.

"Wow, you're bringing out the big guns."

"Go big or go home," she said with a shrug.

He smiled before kissing her again and lingering on her lips. Mercedes groaned.

"Sam, you really gotta go now and stop distracting me with kisses."

He kissed her again and got out the car.

"Night," he said and closed the door. Mercedes watched him walk to the motel door and turn around and wave at her. She smiled before starting her car and descending home. She drove home with a massive smile on her face and a bunch of butterflies wildly fluttering in her belly.

 _And oh, nobody knows but you_

 _how to make me come alive_

 _And oh my heart explodes-Kaboom_

 _Like rockets in the sky._

 _Boy are you some kind of mind reader_

 _Not afraid to say that I need ya,_

 _no, no,no,no,no,no_

 _Hit me like a crash of thunder_

 _This must be a spell that I'm under_

 _Like rockets in the sky_

 _Like rockets in the sky_

* * *

 **I already have two more chapters done. I still have do some editing before I post them so they'll probably be up by tomorrow some time.**

 **Thanks for the reviews and if you have a song for me to base a one-shot on, let me know :)**


	4. Love

**Heya, so Isis Aurora gave me song called _Love_ by Musiq Soulchild. I tinkered with the lyrics just a little bit and pretended it is an _'original'_ song by Mercedes.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own these characters or the song.**

 **(Oh yeah, PS: the first 9 or 10 chapters will be in chronological order about the Samcedes summer until Sam's return to MKHS and winning Mercedes back with whole Disco Inferno, Youtube thing.)**

* * *

She was in love with Sam Evans.

The realization did not come after a huge romantic gesture from Sam, nope. She realized she loved him while they were sitting outside on the patio, two days, ago while she was teaching him how to play chess. She looked over at the young blond man and saw him staring at the chess board in concentration: his brows furrowed and a frown tugging on his lips. In that moment imagined she and Sam grey and old sitting on the front porch playing chess. Her eyes nearly jumped out her sockets at the thought. But then she realized that she could only see that future with him.

She realized that he was all she thought of: at night, his face would send her off to a peaceful slumber and in the morning, his beautiful face would greet her. She wore a permanent smile on her face and her heart would flutter when she heard his name. She loved how his arms felt around her. She loved how he smelled like Radox Spring shower gel. She loved the color of his eyes. She loved his gorgeous smile. She loved how his lips felt. She loved how his kisses taste.

She loved him

She loved him and it scared the freaking crap out of her!

She had no idea how long you were supposed to date someone before you fell in love with them. She was scared that she had feelings for him too strong for such a young age. She was scared he did not feel the same.

That's way she was currently sitting in front of her piano expressing her vulnerability the only way she knew how- through song, with her songbook and pen next to her.

 _'Love_

 _So many things I've got to tell you_

 _But I'm afraid I don't know how_

 _'Cause there's a possibility_

 _You'll look at me differently_

 _Love_

 _Ever since the first moment I spoke your name_

 _From then on I knew that by you being in my life_

 _Things were destined to change'_

She sang the words with her eyes closed, her hands dancing over the keys. She wanted to tell him she loved him. She wanted to tell him how he changed her sometimes cynical view of the word _'Love'_. She wanted to tell him that she loved belonging to him. She wanted to tell him that her name sounded like sugar coming from his beautiful lips. She wanted to tell him his name alone could make her smile. She wanted to tell him all this and so much more but she was afraid her heart would break if he did not feel the same.

 _Love_

 _So many people use your heart in vain_

 _Love_

 _Those who love for you sometimes go astray_

 _Love_

 _Through all the ups and downs the joy and hurt_

 _Love_

 _For better or worse, I still choose you first_

She promised that she would never hurt him like Quinn did or replace him like Santana did, when she penned those lyrics. She promised that she could protect his heart like they did not. She promised she would always be there for him to lean on when he felt weak. She promised that she would help lighten the heavy load of the world on his shoulders. She promised that she would cry with him in the sadness and would rejoice with him in happiness.

 _Many days I've longed for you_

 _Wanting you_

 _Hoping for a chance to get to know you_

 _Longing for your kiss_

 _For your kiss, for your touch, for your essence_

 _(Your beautiful essence)_

When Mercedes was younger and other girls were going on dates while she could only sit and stare. She used to imagine somebody wanting her like they wanted those girls. She would imagine how his kisses would feel and how his fingertips would run on her skin. She longed for someone to hold her in his strong arms. And then Sam Evans came along and all those fantasies failed to compare to the way he made her feel, the way his fingers would dance over her bare arms when they were snuggled together, the way his lips felt danced with hers, the way his presence calmed her; the way his eyes pulled her into their depths.

 _Many nights I've cried from the things you do_

 _Felt like I could die from the thought of losing you._

Mercedes opened her eyes and watched her fingers run over the black and ivory keys with grace strokes as she thought back to the week Sam was ignoring her. She felt her heart break when he wouldn't talk to her and she remembered crying at night asking herself if there was something wrong with her. If she was to blame for people leaving her

 _I know that you're real_

 _With no doubt or no fear_

 _Or no questions._

It took Mercedes a while to finally realize that she was not living in a dream- there were really guys like Sam in reality and he was hers. She could tell him her deepest secrets without fear. She could trust his feelings for her were true without a questions.

 _At first you didn't mean much to me._

She remembers the day he walked into the choir room vividly. At the time, she just thought he was another dumb jock with the personality of a lump of coal and a very bad dye job. She smiled at the memory.

 _But now I know that you are all that I need._

 _The world looks so brand new to me_

But then she got to know him; he was kind and funny, forgiving and honest. He showed her the joys in everyday life. He showed her that he wanted her and that the labels the word put on her were meant nothing. He made her felt all the things she knew she was- beautiful, talented, smart, funny.

 _Now that I found love_

 _Everyday I live for you_

 _And Everything that I do I do it for you_

 _What I say is how I feel so believe it's true_

 _You got to know I'm true, love._

She whispered the last word and played the last note closing her eyes as rested her head against the piano with a sigh.

She was madly in love...and she had no idea what to do or how to tell him.


	5. 1-2-3-4

**Disclaimer: I do not own these characters nor do I owe the song 1-2-3-4 by Plain White-T's.**

* * *

Sam was sure of one thing:

He was in love with Mercedes Jones.

He came to this conclusion last night after a long terrible day at work. He walked into the motel room in a sour mood but then he saw his girlfriend putting down a warm plate of food on the table for him to eat. She smiled at him and went to hug him. He squeezed her tightly against him and buried his nose in her cinnamon smelling hair whilst she drew circles on his back. In that moment, all the stress and crap the day brought disappeared simply just by having his girl hold him. In that moment he realized that he never felt this away about anybody. Yeah, he thought he loved Quinn but he realized that was just infatuation

His dad once told him that you are truly in love with somebody when you accept and appreciate every part of them the good and bad. Quinn never shared deep things with him so he did not truly know her thus he could not really be in love. But Mercedes shared her secrets and her fears with him and she listened to him when he shared his. Things with Mercedes were just effortless. They could go days without seeing each other and pick off where they left off.

"Sam, am I boring you?" She joked and nudged him in the ribcage when he did not reply to her question.

Sam shook his head and returned his mindset to the present where he was lying with his girlfriend on a blanket next to the lake staring at the stars. He tightened arm around her waist and turned on his side so that he could look at her with help of the full moon.

Sam arrived on her doorstep and whisked her away on an impromptu date guitar in hand not giving her chance to change out of her sweatpants and Spongebob shirt. Sam first had to promise her (repeatedly) that nobody would see her in such an undiva-like state before she walked out of the house. To him Mercedes looked prettiest when she did not try and that's why he was vividly painting a picture of her lying in his arms in his mind to store away.

"Nope, I'm just thinkin' about stuff."

"What?" She asked curiously staring up at him.

He shrugged and kissed her forehead.

"Stuff."

"Wow, that answers my question perfectly," she said sarcastically.

"Stop being so nosey." He joked flicking her nose.

She stuck out her tongue at him before resting her head against his chest.

"So what were you up to today?" He asked.

Mercedes nearly shivered as his voice vibrated through his chest.

"I had choir practice and I worked on a song."

He stared down at her.

"You write original music?" he asked surprised.

"Yeah, it kinda started when Mr. Shue told us to write original songs for Reginals. I wrote a bunch of them but they were too...they were too personal for me share so I decided to write something fun and catchy and _Hell To The No_ was born. I don't know, I kinda just feel at peace when I write...it is therapeutic. Some people write in their diaries to express their emotions I write songs. I already have four songs finished and I'm working on a new one." She said

"Will you sing them to me someday?" He asked running his fingers over her sleeved arm.

Her body grew rigid in his arms.

"I wrote some of them when I was vulnerable, Sam. I'm not ready to share that part with you yet."

'Yet' meaning that she would someday but not now. Sam kissed her head.

"I'll be waiting for that day, baby."

She nestled herself into him basking in his warmth and loosing herself in the scent of his Radox Spring bodywash and Axe spray..

"I'll share my newest song with you once it's finished. I've kinda been feeling inspired these past few days so it'll be done soon." She whispered into his side. Her index finger was drawing little hearts on his chest

Sam ran a hand through her hair and cockily said:

"I'm your muse? Wow, it's such an honor. First I wanna thank my mom and my dad. Then there's my childhood pet goldfish Aquaman who died when I was 12, I know he's in heaven looking down at me. I'll also like to thank -"

"I was actually speaking of Garfield..." She said smugly looking at him.

He laughed and pretended like he just got shot in the heart.

"Are you cheating on me Ms Jones?"

She bit her lip grinning at him.

"Well, he is a great cuddle buddy."

"Damn, I guess I gotta step up my game."

Mercedes rolled her eyes as she chuckled.

"Sam, you don't have any game, honey."

"..." He raised his brow.

"..." She raised her brow.

"I'm insulted woman. I got tons of game. Did you see that body roll last week? That thing was legendary"

Mercedes laughed.

"That body roll was something sad."

"Hey, I seduced you with that body roll. Yeah, I saw the way you looked at me while I was doing it. I kinda felt violated-"

Mercedes playfully punched him before they returned to a comfortable silence. Sam rubbed her back as he studied the stars scattered on the black veil of the night.

"So, to what colleges are you gonna apply to?" Sam asked.

She took a deep breath and shrugged.

"Dad wants me to apply to a bunch of them but...but I don't want to go to college. I have not told anybody that yet not even my mom. Don't get me wrong I know how important education is but...I wanna sing, Sam. I want to make music because that's what makes me happy but my dreams are 'unrealistic'. I know my dad will say that..." She took a deep breath. "I don't wanna talk about it tonight though. I don't wanna ruin the night with all my teen angst." She muttered.

He lifted her head so that she could see the sincerity in his eyes as he spoke.

"When you want to talk about it I'm all ears."

She gave him a small smile.

"I know."

Sam took a deep breath and realized it was either now or never. He blurted out:

"I have somethin' to say," his accent coming through.

He cringed as he saw Mercedes raise a brow at his high-pitched announcement. He moved beneath her making her get up. He sat up and took his guitar next to him placing it on his crossed legs. The next words rushed out his mouth:

"Okay, I don't really have somethin' to say, I actually wanna sing it to you 'cause I'm not good with words. And I know we've been officially together for seven weeks now but I know what I feel for your is real and stuff and I need you to know how I feel 'cause it feels like I'm going to burst or something. I understand if you don't feel the same way but hopefully you will...not that I really deserve you feeling the same way because you're really, like, awesome and stuff while I'm-"

Mercedes cupped his cheek and made him raise his eyes to hers.

"Sam, babe, you're rambling. How about you sing me the song, okay?" She said slowly with a small smile painted on her lips.

He nodded and took a deep breath and started playing the beginning chords. He stared in her eyes as his calloused fingers strum the guitar's strings.

 _1-2-1-2-3-4_

 _Give me more loving than I've ever had_

 _Make it all better when I'm feeling sad_

 _Tell me I'm special even when I know I'm not_

 _Make it feel good when it hurts so bad_

 _Barely get mad_

 _I'm so glad I found you._

 _I love being around you_

 _You make it easy_

Sam never imagined he'd ever feel this way about another girl after Quinn and Santana but then Mercedes Jones came bursting through the door of his heart bringing warmth and light with her . She made him feel special: when he talked about his interests, she would listen to him as if what he said was important. When he tried out an impression, she would laugh at what he said. She could turn a crappy day around just by smiling at him. He adored her and he loved being with her. He loved breathing her sweet scent in when he held her in his arms; he loved watching her talk. He loved that everything in their relationship was just naturally effortless. He loved that he could just be him in her presence: he did not need to hide his interests and obsession like he had to with Quinn and he didn't need to tone down his child like excitement like he had to with Santana.

 _It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4_

 _There's only_

 _One thing_

 _Two do_

 _Three words_

 _Four you_

 _I love you._

 _There's only_

 _One way_

 _Two say_

 _Those Three words_

 _And that's what I'll do_

 _I love you_

There he said it; it was out in the open for the first time. He, Sam Evans, loved a girl named Mercedes Jones. He loved the way she smiled. He loved the way she bit her lip when she blushed. He loved the way she would sing along to almost every song on the radio when she drove subconsciously. He loved how her eyes lit up when she laughed. He loved how comforting and inviting her short curvaceous body felt against his. He loved how she smelled like apple pie. He loved how her lips perfectly molded with his. He loved how her kisses tasted. He loved how millions of butterflies erupted in his belly when she kissed him. He loved the way every fiber in his being heat up when she kissed him.

 _Give me more loving from the very start_

 _Piece me back together when I fall apart_

 _Tell me things you don't even tell your closest friends_

 _Make it feel good when it hurts so bad_

 _The best I've had_

 _And I'm so glad I found_

 _I love being around you_

 _You make it easy._

The connection he shared with Mercedes was deeper than even he could explain. They shared things with one another that they have not shared with anyone else without the fear of being judged or the information being used against them. Sam could not stop thanking God for giving him the blessing named Mercedes who put color into his dull world.

 _It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4_

 _There's only_

 _One thing_

 _Two do_

 _Three words_

 _Four you_

 _I love you._

 _There's only_

 _One way_

 _Two say_

 _Those Three words_

 _And that's what I'll do_

 _I love you_

 _I love you_

He saw tears running down Mercedes' face as he sang.

 _'Okay, Sam, she's crying because she's overwhelmed with emotion and she loves you to.'_

Or

 _'She's crying because she realizes she's wasted all this time, with a loser, that she can never get back again_.'

Sam really hoped it was not the latter.

 _You make it easy_

 _It's as easy as 1-2-1-2-3-4_

 _There's only_

 _One thing_

 _Two do_

 _Three words_

 _Four you_

 _I love you._

 _There's only_

 _One way_

 _Two say_

 _Those Three words_

 _And that's what I'll do_

 _I love you_

 _I love you_

 _1-2-3-4_

 _I love you._

He strummed the last note and looked into her eyes with vulnerability shining in his own as he whispers:

 _I love you_

Mercedes launched her self onto Sam. She cried as she kissed him trying to tell him with words she loved him too. She loved him so damn much. She ignored the instrument pressing against his ribcage and explored Sam's mouth for a first time each sweet caress promising him she felt the same way. She felt Sam smile against her lips as she put her heart…her essence into the kiss.

Her lungs seeking oxygen forced her to pull away him. Sam took the opportunity to put the guitar down next to him. He then wiped away her fallen tears and stared into her beautiful eyes.

"I-I love you too, Sam." She whispered. "It scares me because I've never felt this way about anybody. I love you so much that the intensity scares me. So many of the people I love leave me-"

He pressed his lips against hers trying to kiss those thoughts away.

"I'm not leaving you, 'Cedes." He whispered against her lips with certainty.

One of Mercedes' biggest fears were abandonment and he had to repeatedly tell her that he wouldn't leave her but he could see many times that she didn't believe him. So all he could do now is show her that he was not going anywhere anytime soon if he had anything to say about it.

"I love you, Mercedes Jones."

She gave him a smile heartbreaking and beautiful as she went into give him a hug that was just as intimate as their kisses. Yes the words he sang weren't Shakespearian but they were still as beautiful.

Yep, Sam Evans was in deep but he would not want it any other way or with any other girl.

* * *

 **So, what do we think?**


	6. Hands To Heaven

**I don't own Glee and I do not own this song :) The characters belong to Ryan Murphy and the song to Breathe**

* * *

 _Sam knocked on Mercedes' front door. It was exactly two weeks since he told her he loved her. He tightened his sweatshirt around his body trying to shield himself from the uncharacteristically windy summer air as he waited for the door to open. Seconds later, he heard the door being unlocked and open to see Mercedes' mom. The woman was almost a mirror image of her daughter: short, curvaceous, a button nose, full lips and doe eyes that made the 46-year-old look like a 30-year-old. The only difference between the two was her lighter skin whilst Mercedes seemed to inherit her father's darker complexion._

 _"Sam, what a surprise, I did not know you were coming over today but it's a good thing you did. I'm making_ _Rhubarb_ _pie and I was going to send Mercedes over to give it to you but now that your here I don't have to. Just remind me to give it to you before you leave." she smiled up at him as she threw her dishrag over her shoulder making space for him to enter._

 _He smiled at the short woman._

 _"Thanks, Ma'am and I will."_

 _He followed her down the narrow hallway towards the kitchen stopping only to greet Mr. Jones and Mercedes' brother, Dante. He found Mercedes in the kitchen singing along to an Aretha Franklin song as she chopped fresh herbs for dinner. Her hair was in a messy bun, she was wearing a pair of dark leggings showing off her glorious backside, her Spongebob slippers and a loose fitting band-t. She looked radiant singing along and moving her hips as she chopped away. It broke Sam's heart further._

 _"You have a visitor," her announced bringing her out of her music-induced trance. She let go of the knife and grabbed her heart in surprise at the sound of her mother's voice. She then looked at Sam and smiled before curiously raising a brow._

 _"Hey, what are you doing here? Did we make plans for today?" She asked walking towards him and hugging him._

 _"Nope, I just really need to tell you something," he said seriously making her furrow her brows._

 _"Well, I'll take over here while the two of you talk. Since the men are using the living room and it's windy outside you can talk in your room." Mrs. Jones moved her gaze from Mercedes to Sam before going back to looking at her daughter. "But no funny business and the door stays open."_

 _Mercedes rolled her eyes while a crimson dust blew over Sam's cheeks._

 _"Yeah, Mom, like I would really try something with my parents and brother downstairs?"_

 _"Oh so you would have tried something if we weren't here?" She asked raising a brow._

 _Mercedes knew her mom was joking so she just stuck her tongue out and grabbed Sam's hand._

 _"If Daddy freaks out I'm telling him it was your idea," Mercedes said over her shoulder as she led Sam out of the kitchen._

 _He silently followed Mercedes to her room for the first time. Her room was painted white with one wall painted purple which her bed- that Garfield sat on- stood against it. He walked towards a wall holding a bulletin board filled with pictures of her friends and people he presumed were family members._

 _There was a picture of her and Kurt when they were cheerios and one of her and Kurt making kissy faces at the camera. There was a few of her and a pregnant Quinn. There was even one of her between Santana and Britney striking a 'gangster-pose'. She had a picture of her and Tina sitting next to each other in front of the piano she had downstairs. There was a photo of her Artie, Mike, Rachel and Finn smiling in the choir room. She even had a picture of Puck and Lauren pulling faces as they flicked off the camera._

 _On the board, there were a few pictures scattered that she took of them together and just him during their summer so far._

 _He sat on the chair in front of her neat desk when something caught his eye. He picked up and studied the framed picture on her desk; it was a picture they took at the amusement park; Mercedes was holding the green stuffed tiger against her chest as she kissed Sam on the cheek while he was grinning at the camera as multi-colored lights illuminated the night sky behind them._

 _Mercedes sat on the bad studying his demeanor_

 _"What's wrong, Sam?"_

 _He sighed running a hand through his overgrown hair that was starting to show dirty blonde at the roots. He swallowed the lump the lump in his throat and released a long sigh._

 _"We're moving out of the motel-"_

 _"That's awesome, Sam," Mercedes squealed whilst a smile broke over her face. However, the smile shrunk when she noticed he did not seem very happy about the news but rather solemn. "Sam, what's wrong?" she asked gently._

 _The blond bit his lip._

 _"We're moving to Kentucky. My dad found a job and a house so next week we are moving to a new state. He told us last night."_

 _Mercedes' heart dropped into her shoes._

 _He was leaving her..._

 _Yes, it may not be by choice but he was still leaving._

 _"Oh," was all she could say once she caught her breath. She stood up from her bed and swallowed the lump in her throat as she looked at the floor._

 _"I-I think you should go now."_

 _"Mercedes-"_

 _"No, Sam, I just need to absorb what you just told me. I'll call you later." She said turning her back on him as she took deep breaths to stop herself from crying. She did not want him to see her cry._

 _Sam stood up but rather than doing what was asked, he walked towards her and pulled her against him. He rested his chin on her head as he pulled her closer. The second his arms snaked around her waist she lost her cool and soft sobs left her mouth. Sam turned her in his arms and pressed her to his chest closing his eyes. He rubbed circles on her back as she spoke against his chest._

 _"This-this just sucks, you know. I finally find this amazing guy and now he gets pulled away. This really sucks, Sam."_

 _He pulled away so that he could look into her beautiful wet eyes. He cupped her cheek and pressed a kiss to her forehead before he gave her a sad smiled._

 _"I know how you feel, 'Cedes. I've wasted all this time with girls like Quinn and Santana while I could have spend it better with you. And now I have to leave...Ugh, my timing sucks so bad."._

 _Sam wiped away her tears and pressed a gentle kiss to her lips before pulling away to look at her._

 _"I love you and distance is not gonna change it, okay? Plus, we can Skype and text and I can, like, call you everyday and leave you voicemails. I'll be like stalking you on Facebook and Twitter. I'll annoy you so much it'll feel like I never left."_

 _Mercedes chuckled through the tears and nodded even though the laugh didn't reach her eyes. Mercedes knew that the long distance thing would be hard but she did not want to think of that now. All she wanted to do is enjoy the time she had left with_ _Sam even if it did mean that she would be living in ignorance. She hugged him and closed her eyes tightly wishing that this was all a bad dream._

* * *

 _As I watch you move, across the moonlit room._

 _There's so much tenderness in your loving_

 _Tomorrow I must leave, the dawn knows no reprieve_

 _God give me strength when I'm leaving._

They sat next to the lake staring at the moonlight dancing over the black water. Mercedes sat between Sam's legs with her back pressed against his chest. He rubbed circles on her knee with his one hand while his other arm was around her waist. He nuzzled the side of her neck while she had her arm around his circling her waist. They sat in silence drinking in the last few hours in each other's arms.

"I'm gonna miss this," Sam whispered against her neck.

She took a deep breath.

"Sam, I don't wanna talk about this now-"

He pulled away from her.

"Mercedes, we can't keep ignoring this-"

"Sam, we only have two hours left alone. I do not want to taint our last few hours together with teen angst, okay? So, let's just enjoy each others' company and drop it until to tomorrow."

Sam sighed. The past week every time Sam tried bringing up the subject of him leaving Mercedes would grow cold and change the subject. But he knew ignoring the subject would not make it disappear especially since he was living tomorrow morning. He knew she was hurting just as much as he was so he indulged her but they needed to talk things out. She could not run away from this.

"'Cedes-"

"Sam, please, we can talk tomorrow, okay? Please just hold me tonight… I-I just need you to hold me, okay?" Her voice broke as she spoke.

Sam wrapped his arms around her and lied back on the blanket with her next to him. The lovers stared into each other's eyes, letting one another know without words how much they loved each other. Mercedes touched Sam's face marking him with her gentle warm touch. Sam closed his eyes as she swept her hands down his jaw as if she was trying to memorize every detail of his face with her fingers. He closed his eyes at the tender intimacy of the small action.

He sighed praying for the strength he would need for tomorrow when he was leaving her.

 _So raise your hands to heaven and pray_

 _That we'll be back together someday_

 _Tonight, I need your sweet caress._

 _Hold me in the darkness_

 _Tonight, you calm my restlessness_

 _You relieve my sadness_

He felt her soft lips on his, her breath caressing his mouth. He pulled her closer and kissed her with everything he had pouring all his frustration, anger, pain and love into it. She received him willingly and returned the kiss with the same intensity. With their mouths, they told each other how much they love one another, how much they needed one another, branding each other with nothing more than kisses.

 _As we move to embrace, tears run down your face_

 _I whisper words of love, so softly_

 _I can't believe this pain, it's driving me insane_

 _Without your touch, life will be lonely._

The need for air was too great to ignore forcing the young lovers apart. Sam opened his eyes to see tears in his girlfriend's brown orbs. He pressed her closer to him whispering 'I Love You's' into her ears as he tried fighting back tears of his own.

 _So raise your hands to heaven and pray_

 _That we'll be back together someday_

 _Tonight, I need your sweet caress._

 _Hold me in the darkness_

 _Tonight, you calm my restlessness_

 _You relieve my sadness._

Their mouths found each other yet again, lips devouring, marking and tasting hungrily. Sam could feel her tears mixing with his own running down his cheeks. Her hands dived into his blonde strands pulling him closer whilst his hand swept over every curve of her body. His heart was drumming wildly against his ribcage; his senses being filled with her sweet scent and essence. Every part of him is touching her soft warm body.

 _Tonight, I need your sweet caress_

 _Hold me in the darkness_

 _Tonight, you calm my restlessness_

 _You relieve my sadness_

 _Tonight, I need your sweet caress_

 _Hold me in the darkness_

 _Tonight, you calm my restlessness_

 _relieve my sadness._

* * *

 _ **The Next Day**_ Mercedes and Sam were standing in the motel parking lot. Mercedes skipped church so that she could tell the Evans-clan goodbye. After getting hugs from Dwight, Mary, Stacy and a fat kiss on the cheek from Stevie, she and Sam escaped so that they could spend their last few minutes alone. She leaned against her car while he was staring at her in silence, neither refusing to say the word 'goodbye'. Mercedes stared at her ballet flats as she spoke.

"I think we should break-up, Sam."

"What-Mercedes, no." She heard the shock and hurt in his voice prompting her to close her eyes.

She heard his footstep growing closer her triggering her to raise her hand.

She looked up, tears burning beneath her lids, to see him staring at her broken-hearted.

With a voice breaking from emotion, she said:

"Sam, let's be realistic, we'll almost never see each other once your gone. We'll have nothing more than phone calls and maybe visits once in a blue moon and that's not what a relationship should be like. It's going to be hard-"

"We can make this work, Mercedes. I know we-"

"No, we can't we haven't even been dating for that long-"

"That has nothing to do with this, Mercedes. My grandparents dated for three months before they got married and they have been together for 52 years. Don't bullshit me." He spat.

"Sam, imagine seeing or talking to each other everyday without knowing when we'll see each other again physically without a screen. Imagine not being able to touch each other. I do not want to worry you with a relationship while you have to adjust to a new place. I do not want you hurting and withering in angst and despair because you miss me and can't be with me. I love you, Sam. I love you so much that-that-" She swallowed the painful lump in her throat as silently tears fell from her eyes. "I love you so much that it physically hurts me to say this to you. And I love you enough to let you go."

"Mercedes please don't," He whispered taking a step towards her with his own waterfall of tears running down his cheeks.

He stopped when she raised a hand and shook her head. She wiped away traitor tears and tried to compose herself as she said.

"Don't...just don't hug me, Sam. If you hug me, I am going to start crying and I might never stop. I will not be able to stop. So just stand there…please."

They stood in silence staring at one another saving every small detail of the person in front of them to memory.

"I love you." Sam whispered.

"I know."

"I'll miss you."

"I know."

Sam sighed looking at his watch.

"I have to go."

"I know."

They stared at each other again for a minute before Sam sighed and ran a hand through his hair.

"Are you really not even gonna give me a hug?"

A heart-breaking sob left her full lips before she threw herself on him. He lifted her feet off the ground before placing her down again. He buried his face in her black locks, crying into them as she clutched to the front of his shirt crying into his chest. Soft sobs vibrated through his chest as he tightened his hold around her. His heart broke once he pulled away to look into her wet face. He cupped her cheek and pressed the gentlest of kisses on her lips only a few seconds long. His lips lingered on hers while they stared at each other

Mercedes took a deep breath and pulled away from him. He let her go. She turned on the balls of her feet and climbed into the car. She sat there for a few seconds trying to decide if she was strong enough to look at him one last time without bursting in tears yet again. She was not. She closed her door and started her car. Without a word or even a look of acknowledgment, she drove away leaving behind her heart in the hands of Sam Evans...

* * *

 **Ohhhhh Angsty. The following few chapters will be angst galore because it will be about Mercedes dealing with her first heartbreak as well as Sam's life in Kentucky.**

 **And Helen thanks for your kind words. I also hate that they totally messed up Sam and Mercedes' relationship- they were ENDGAME!. Anyhow, I may post a Samcedes story in the future but at the moment I have a lot of uncompleted stories not only on this site but also on Wattpad so I don't want to start a new project and spread myself too thin. Again thanks for the review.**

 **Soooooo, what did ya'll think?**


	7. Alive

**Disclaimer: I don't own Glee or this very sad song by Leona Lewis called Alive.**

* * *

 _I breathe, I hear but I don't believe it_

 _My heart it beats but inside I'm freezing_

 _My hands they shake, they've lost all their feeling_

 _No air to take._

 _You say that you're leaving_

 _And there's no turning back this time_

 _Gotta stay alive_

Mercedes threw the door shut behind her once she entered her house. She leaned against a nearby hall wall trying to catch her breath as she held her hands to her chest trying to stop the suffocating sobs threatening to burst free. She looked up to see her mother at the end of the stairs staring at her with sad eyes. Warm tears sprayed from her eyes a she ran into her mother's embrace. She broke down falling to the ground as painful whimpers left her dry lips and life left her body. All she could feel was sorrow pumping through her veins to every part of her body as she shakily fisted her mother's shirt begging God to take away the indescribable hurt in her crumbling heart.

Her mother rocked her back and forth whispering that she would be okay, telling her that she was strong and that he had to leave but her heart did not care for logic- it only wanted Sam. No encouraging words were going to take away the bone-chilling grief crushing her heart in its hold or the suffocating silent cries of pain stealing her breath from her.

 _Where do I go when I'm all alone?_

 _Where do I turn when we were so close?_

 _We try not to crash but we still collide_

 _To the ground_

 _I'll survive_

 _I'm alive_

* * *

The second day after his departure was no better than the first. That morning the sun shone and birds sang outside her windowpane- a contrast to the cold emotions brewing inside her and the dark sorrow engulfing her in its hold. She turned on her side and opened her eyes to see the photo of her and Sam on her desk taunting her with its happiness and memories. She closed her eyes burying face her into her wet pillow trying to force all the memories of Sam far away to no avail. She missed his green eyes looking at her like she was all he saw. She missed how he walked with his hands in his pockets. She missed how he used to interrupt her with kisses. She missed his soft skin brushing against hers. She missed how soft his kisses tasted. Oh she missed him so much.

She curled into herself clutching the stuffed tiger to her chest as silent sobs shook her body. She could feel her heart beating in her chest crying in agony yet she felt dead inside...hollow...lost.

 _I'm stripped, I'm bare_.

 _I'm left here with nothing_

 _I hold the wheel_

 _Don't know where I'm going_

 _Your face, I see, in every reflection_

 _No time, no space_

 _I've lost all direction_

 _And there's no turning back this time_

 _Gotta stay alive_

Sam came swooping in like a wrecking ball crashing through her walls...and then he left. He left her alone and naked in the destruction of a broken heart. He left his kiss like a bruise on her lips. His fingertips tattooed on every inch of her skin. She was bare- exposed to cold pain around He left her with a heartbreaking chill running through her bones and with memories painfully beautiful scattered on the pieces of her broken heart.

She had no idea how to take away this numbing crippling pain coursing through her veins. She had no idea what to do or where to go to escape his memory haunting her existence.

She saw and felt nothing but darkness surrounding her with no light in sight. She had no idea how she would survive when everything inside her was slowly dying with each breath she took. She had no idea how to stop her hands from reaching for him. She had no idea how to stop her broken heart from yearning for him.

She gathered the little strength she had to get out of bed and walk towards their framed picture staring at her with the happiness she lost when she drove out of that parking lot. She picked it up examining his beautiful mischievous shinning eyes. She swept her hand over the glass wiping away her fallen tears. She pressed it against her chest taking a deep breath as she closed her eyes...

 _I'm gonna get there someway_

 _Through all the tears and the rain_

 _And any road I can take_

 _Just to get me some place._

 _Where all the scars on my heart_

 _And all the cries in the dark_

 _Disappear in my headlights_

 _So bright, tonight_

 _Gonna drive them away_

She lifted the picture to her lips before putting it face down on the table. She would survive...she had to. She had no idea how but she would survive this. She would find healing and she would find the sun again- maybe not today, maybe not tomorrow but someday. She might be broken but she could be fixed. She just had to start moving forward and crawl through the rubble until she could walk again.

She was still breathing- she was still alive and she would find peace again for her withering heart floating through her dark hollow soul searching for its home.

 _Where do I go when I'm all alone?_

 _Where do I turn when we were so close?_

 _We try not to crash but we still collide_

 _To the ground_

 _I'll survive_

 _I'm alive…_

 _I'm alive…_

* * *

 **And, what do we think?**


	8. Farewell

**Sam's POV up next. The songs name is Farewell and Rihanna sings it. Like with 'Love' we're going to pretend Mercedes wrote the song.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Glee or its characters and I do not own the song.**

* * *

Sam stared at the envelope in his hand sitting in his bed alone. His name was beautifully sprawled over the front in purple italics. Mercedes gave the envelope to him three days ago on the day of the move asking him not to open it until he was alone. That Sunday night he threw it against a wall in anger.

He wanted their relationship to work. He freaking loved the girl. But when he brought up trying the long distance-thing she refused. And he hated her for that. He hated himself for hating her. He hated the smell of apples because they reminded him of her. He hated the air he breathed because she was breathing it in too. He hated the color purple. He even hated the damn tulips in the garden because they were her favorite flowers...and freaking purple on top of it. He hated the fact he loved her so much that he could not breathe when he thought of her. He hated that he spent the whole night crying over her until exhaustion took over.

But the next day after the hate soon disappeared misery took its place choking him in its hold. Her face haunted his dreams. However, he refused to read her letter knowing that he was not strong enough to read it without bursting out in tears. Plus he really didn't think a bunch of ladies were gonna pay him if he was dancing around on stage crying on them.

The third day the pain was still as fresh as the first day she told him they should break up. But he tried ignoring it. He tried swimming through the storm of emotions until he found peace but he felt himself drowning. He thought maybe if he read the letter, he could bury her memory and learn to live without her. Maybe his broken heart could find closure and move on.

That is why he was tearing the letter open and sat on the bed ready to jump into the sea of mind- numbing pain so that he could move on with his broken heart and find happiness again.

He unfolded the note, a few pictures failing out. He picked them up before taking a deep breath for courage and reading her words:

 _Dear Sam,_

 _I love you, Sam._

 _I love you so much that it hurts me to write this..._

He could see dried tears smudging the purple ink and causing ripples over the sheet.

 _But I love you enough to let you go, Sam. I knew I could not tell you all this face to face without crumbling so I wrote you a song. This is not the original song I wrote for you but_ _after you told me you were leaving I had no idea what to say or what to do, so I wrote you a song to tell you and express all the emotions I feel for you._

 _Wherever you're going_

 _I wanna go_

 _Wherever you're heading_

 _Can you let me know_

 _I don't mind catching up_

 _I'm on my way_

 _Just can't take the thought of you miles away_

 _And I know that you're going somewhere to make a better life_

 _I hope that you find it on the first try_

 _And even though it kills me_

 _That you have to go_

 _I know it'll be sadder_

 _If you never hit the road._

 _So farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna miss you_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna wish that you were here_

 _That somebody is me_

 _I will write to tell you what's going on_

 _But you wont miss nothing but the same old song_

 _If you don't mind catching up_

 _I'll spend the day telling you stories about a land far away_

 _But I know_

 _And I know you're going somewhere to make a better life_

 _I hope you find it on the first try._

 _And even though it kills me_

 _That you have to go_

 _I know it'll be sadder_

 _If you never hit the road_

 _So farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna miss you_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna wish that you were here_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna miss you_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna wish that you were here_

 _That somebody is me_

 _And I'm gon' try to hold it all in_

 _Try to hold back my tears_

 _So it don't make you stay here, yeah_

 _I'mma try to be a big girl now_

 _'Cause I don't wanna be_

 _The reason you don't leave_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna miss you_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna wish that you were here_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna miss you_

 _Farewell_

 _Somebody is gonna wish that you were here_

 _That somebody is me_

 _You're my best friend, Sam, and I'll miss you dearly but I had to let you go. I know you don't understand why but I had to cut all ties with you so that we both can heal and maybe one day move on. I'm setting you free, Sam. You'll always have a special in my heart, Sam: you were my first love. You'll forever live in my heart and memories._

 _I hope you find happiness and love. I hope you smile everyday. I hope you find the sunshine in the rain. I hope you live every second like it was your last. I hope you never stop being the beautiful person I fell in love with. Never change your stripes for anybody because they are what make you beautiful._

 _Take care of yourself and remember that wherever you are you and whenever you feel alone and life is too much for you…remember that love you._

 _I will always love you..._

 _Your 'Cedes_

Sam wiped away his fallen tears and smiled sadly. He took a deep breath, picked up the photos and studied them. The first was a picture of the two of them sending kisses at the camera. The second was taken when their families spend a day together: Sam and Mercedes sat on the swings in the backyard. Sam had his arm around her while she rested her head on his shoulder. The two young lovers were staring into each other's eyes- their happiness and love shinning through the photo. The last photo was more intimate; it was a photo of him and her lying on her couch. His arms were wrapped around her waist and his face was buried in the side of her neck as she gave her phone a small smile.

Sam let out a breath closing his eyes as suffocating emotions tightened in his chest. Tears prickled his eyelids as memories of her beautiful face surrounded the corners of his mind.

He was never going to forget her or their beautiful memories and he knew she would not forget him. He knew that she would forever remember him and that was enough to give him hope...hope that one day their stars would align again. It may be tomorrow, it may be next week. Nevertheless, one day he would see her again and he would make her see how much love he had for her without time or distance tearing them.

One day Mercedes Jones would be his again. Until that day, he would paint a smile on his face everyday and fight through the bone chilling pain echoing through his hollow soul.

He would be okay because he still had claim on her heart and that knowledge would get him through this despair.

* * *

 **I hope you enjoy and review if you want to :).**


	9. My Hands

**New one-shot. I hope you enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own Glee and I do not own the song My Hands by Leona Lewis off the album Echo.**

* * *

 _I wake in the morning_

 _Tired of sleeping_

 _Get in the shower_

 _And make my bed alone_

 _I put on my makeup_

 _Talking in the mirror_

 _Ready for a new day_

 _Without you._

Mercedes sat in front of her mirror fixing her make-up before going out with her friends for the night. It was nearly two weeks since Sam left and in those two weeks, Mercedes realized that she could no longer lock herself in her room. She needed to smile again. She needed to move on and adapt to a life without Sam Evans. Tonight she was going to do just that- smile and laugh even though there was still a black hole in her soul. She would put on her best dress, do her make-up and hair and maybe she will even dance tonight. Tonight she would be okay.

 _And I walk steady on my feet._

 _I talk my voice obeys me_

 _I go out at night_

 _Sleep without the lights_

 _And I do all of the things_

 _I have to keeping you off my mind_

 _But when I think I'll be alright_

 _I am always wrong 'cause..._

Mercedes took a deep breath and studied her reflection before closing her eyes and opening them. She painted a smile on her face and said.

"You will be okay. Tonight you are going to have fun. You are going to smile. You may even laugh. Tonight you are whole. Tonight you are happy."

She almost believed her lies but then she saw the reflection of his picture on her ' _Picture Wall'_ in her mirror. She studied the photo of her ex-boyfriend grinning at the camera like a fool. She smiled remembering how she had to tickle a smile out of him because he decided to be spiteful that day and wear his 'angry/constipated face' when she wanted to take a picture of him.

 _My hands_

 _Don't wanna start again_

 _My hands_

 _No they don't wanna understand_

 _My hands_

 _They just shake and try to break whatever peace I may find._

Tears burned beneath her lids. She closed her eyes taking deep breaths trying to force away the memories breaking pass her facade. She fisted her trembling hands as tears flooded past her closed lids. She finally believed her own lie and then his face had to steal the false peace she found. Silent sobs over took her body as memories of him replayed in her mind.

 _My hands_

 _They only agree to hold_

 _Your hands_

 _And they don't wanna be without_

 _Your hands_

 _And they will not let me go_

 _No they will not let me go_

She still missed him. She still missed him so much. She still missed his scent. She still missed his smile. She still missed his laugh. And oh heaven she still missed his beautiful hands. She missed how his calloused hands wrapped around hers. She missed how warm his pale hands were. She missed how her fingers perfectly fit in between the spaces his. She missed how his rough fingers would dance over her cheek to her jaw and then her lips. She missed every single part of him...

And she hated that.

She hated that every time she felt like she was making progress his memory would come creeping in the cracks of her walls.

Once Mercedes collected herself, she grabbed her phone off her dresser and sent Tina a text:

 _'Hey T, I'm feeling a little under the weather. I'm not going with you guys tonight- tell everybody I'm sorry but I'll see them next time.'_

Mercedes kicked off her heels and walked over to her closet. She undressed and put her PJ's on. She heard her phone beeping and walked over towards the dresser.

 _'Bu-bu-but, I haven't seen you in years (okay in reality it's been three weeks but they feel like years). Anyhow I hope you feel better soon. I'll drop by tomorrow with some Tina lovin' to heal you. Love you!'_

Mercedes smiled and texted her back.

 _'Tina Lovin'? I hope it's not the same lovin' you give Mike! It'll be nice to see you tomorrow. Love you too.'_

Mercedes turned her phone off before turning her lights off. She climbed in her bed and hugged Garfield tightly to her chest as she closed her eyes hoping for a peaceful slumber without green eyes haunting her.

 _I talk about you now_

 _And go a day without crying_

 _I go out with my friends now_

 _I stay home all alone_

 _I don't see you everywhere_

 _I can say your name easily_

 _I laugh a bit louder_

 _Without you_

 _And I see different shades now_

 _And I'm almost never afraid now_

 _But when I think I'll be okay_

 _I am always wrong now_

"You look pretty tonight." Her mother said leaning against her doorframe.

Mercedes smiled at her mother as she put on her shoes. She was actually going out with her friends tonight to Bread Sticks and this time she was not going to chicken out.

"Thank you."

Her mother walked into her room and sat on her bed picking Garfield up.

"How are you?" Her mother asked. She knew her daughter was having a rough time after Sam's departure. She was the one who held her in her arms when she cried over him. She knew Mercedes needed to grieve over him, talk about him and slowly move on but every time she tried, talking about him her daughter would act withdrawn.

Mercedes bit her lip and stared at her hands.

"I'm-I'm fine, Mom."

Esther stood up and walked over to her daughter.

"You know that if you ever want to talk, I'll be there to listen."

"I know, Mom."

The older woman cupped her daughter's cheeks and kissed her forehead.

"Good and I love you."

"I know, Mom."

"And bring me back some breadsticks."

Mercedes rolled her eyes with a small smile gracing her lips.

"I know, Mom."

Surprisingly going out with her friends was more fun than she expected. She laughed the whole night through with her friends. When Mike brought up the topic of Sam surprisingly, she did not burst out of tears as she thought she would. She actually laughed when Mike shared a funny memory of Sam even though there was a sharp stab through her heart. She could finally talk about him now. She could finally remember him and smile at the same time.

She walked into her dark house and locked the door behind her again. As she headed to her room, she bid a goodnight to her brother lying on the couch watching TV. She took off her heels before walking up the stairs so she does not wake her parents. Once she reached her room, she quietly closed the door and turned on her lights to see the stuffed green tiger stare at her as it rested on her bed.

 _My hands_

 _Don't wanna start again_

 _My hands_

 _No they don't wanna understand'_

 _My hands_

 _They just shake and try to break_

 _Whatever peace I may find_

 _My hands_

 _They only agree to hold_

 _Your hands_

 _And they don't wanna be without_

 _Your hands_

 _And they will not let me go_

 _No they will not let me._

Immediately the joy and piece she found crumbled and sharp stabs of pain shot through her half-healed heart unraveling the small stitch of progress she made tonight. She put her shoes on the floor and walked to the green animal picking it up and clutching it to her chest...but this time she did not cry like the previous times. She closed her eyes feeling the familiar yearning in her heart.

She could not live like this anymore. She could not have his memory keep stealing her happiness. She was going to let him go. She needed to find peace again and she needed to start tonight.

 _Sometimes I wake and I see them out for you_

 _Quietly breaking whatever shields_

 _I spent so long building up_

 _I cannot fake, 'cos when they cry I'm unspoken_

 _They miss holding my baby_

She walked over to her closet and searched in the back for a big box. Once she found the box, she placed it next to the tiger on the floor before walking over to her bulletin board and taking off all their pictures with trembling hands. She went to her desk and searched for her songbook before taking the framed picture off her desk and walking back to the box. She sat down in front of it and placed the photos and book down next to her.

She opened the box to see the dress she wore to her junior prom. A sad smile spread over her lips as she lifted the dress out of the box and pressed it against her chest silently crying as the memories of her in Sam's arm replayed in her mind. That is where all of this started. She did not know if she should be happy or sad about it. If they never danced together, they would have never become friends and then they would have never have gotten together...and she would not have ended up so heartbroken. However if it was not for that prom she would have never gotten to know him. She would have never known his touch, his scent, his kiss. She would have never known how beautiful his soul is..

She put the dress back in the box as a bittersweet memento. She then took Garfield and hugged it tightly one last time before placing him on top of the fabric. She then took their pictures and studied them one last time memorizing every detail the gorgeous young blond before setting him free. She kissed their framed picture and placed it in the box- fat tears blinding her. She wiped away the tears before opening the book. She paged through the book until she reached the last page. She read the love song she wrote for him for the last time not even trying to stop the suffocating sobs trembling through her bones. With trembling hands, she neatly ripped the page and folded the song placing it in the box. She closed the box, stood up and placed it in the back of her closet.

 _My hands_

 _Don't wanna start again_

 _My hands_

 _No they don't wanna understand_

 _'My hands_

 _They just shake and try to break_

 _Whatever peace I may find_

 _My hands_

 _They only agree to hold_

 _Your hands_

 _And they don't wanna be without_

 _Your hands_

 _And they will not let me go_

 _No they will not let me go_

 _No they will not let me go_

She wrapped her arms around her and whispered to herself:

"You will be okay."

This time she was actually believing herself.

Tonight she was sending his memory and her love for him into the universe so that she could move on and find happiness in herself.

* * *

 **The next one shot will be when Sam comes back.**


	10. This Love

**Here is a new one-shot, I hope you all enjoy and I hope I did Santana justice.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own a thing- not the characters, Glee or the song This Love by Taylor Swift off her album 1989 (This is one of my favorite songs off the album).**

* * *

Mercedes Jones walked through the halls of William McKinley High School with a small bounce in her step. It has been nearly six months since she has last seen Sam Evans and in those six months, her life slowly started orbiting around her again rather than Sam. She was her own sun in the solar system of her life again. She was the leader of a group of fierce singing girls, she did well in school and she had a boyfriend- she was at peace. She could smile again and she could laugh without thinking about Sam for days sometimes week. The few times the lingering memories of Sam Evans would appear would be when she was with Shane...

She met him at church exactly four weeks after Sam left Lima. He and his family moved to town the previous week. The young boy was immediately smitten with her when he saw her and heard her singing _'Imagine'_ by Kurt Franklin in the Sunday service that day. He approached her casually telling her she had a beautiful voice: 'Almost as beautiful as she was'. At first Mercedes did not know if she should be insulted that he downgraded her talent but she shrugged it off and thanked him before waiting for the rest of her family in the SUV.

Since that day, Shane would try to strike up a conversation with after church as they waited for their parents to bid goodbye the congregation members. Mercedes soon noticed he was flirting with her and in all honesty, at the time it had no effect on her whatsoever.

Somehow, someway he got her number and asked her on a date. She was tempted to tell him no but then she heard the uncertainty in his voice as if he was waiting for her to turn him down. She took a breath and told him she would love to go with him to the movies.

That is how their relationship progressed. They acted more like friends than a courting couple so when he leaned over on their third 'date' to kiss her she nearly had a heart attack but not wanting to hurt his feelings she sat rooted to her spot and let him press his lips to hers...

She felt absolutely nothing.

She did not feel the adrenalin rush through her veins or the rockets exploding in the four chambers of her heart like she did when Sam kissed her. She did not feel warmth spreading from the tip of her toes to the top of head. She did not feel butterflies causing havoc in her belly or a burst of passion in her soul. In all honesty she felt like she was cheating on Sam…

That pissed her off.

The fact that she was still holding on pissed her off and it still hurt so in retaliation she returned the kiss ignoring the fact that her heart was not in it.

Even after months of dating, she still compared Shane's kisses to Sam's at times. She still compared his touch to Sam's at times. But she refused to break up with him; she could see how the boy looked at her with such suffocating love shinning in his eyes and she did not want to steal that light from his eyes. She cared about Shane...yes she did not love him but she cared about him a lot. Things with him were uncomplicated and safe and she needed that. After Sam, she needed a safety net and Shane was the perfect choice.

 _Clear blue water_

 _High tide came_

 _And brought you in_

 _And I could go on, on and on, and I will_

Mercedes unlocked her locker and heard a commotion next to her. She recognized her perfume and with her head in her locker said:

"Morning, 'Tana."

Mercedes and Santana were not really friends until they joined The Troubletones. Before, there was only a mutual respect between the girls. But when Santana joined the Troubletones, the girls became closer and Mercedes started seeing the depth in the Latina. She was more than the frank bitch she projected to the world; under all the bitchiness and manipulating was a sensitive girl...a badass sensitive girl and it turns out Britney was the first to notice what the world did not.

"I heard a rumor." Her velvety voice sliced through the air

Mercedes grabbed her books and closed her locker before giving the girl leaning on the neighboring locker her full attention.

"What?" She asked curiously

"Guess which fish-person jumped out of the lake and is flapping through the halls of McKinley."

Mercedes shrugged.

"Trouty Mouth."

Mercedes' heart skipped a beat as her eyes grew.

"Wait-what?"

Santana grabbed the girl's arm and slowly led her down the hall towards their first shared class.

"The Hobbit and Pasty Pale the tall pastry boy with custard nipples headed to Kentucky and fished him out of the Kentucky Lake to help them with Regionals against us. I can't blame them for getting help 'cause they are gonna need it against us but it's not like Fish-face is gonna magical pull out a win for them. It's not like he has magic fish powers or something." Santana rolled her eyes before turning serious and studying the shorter girl. "Are you okay?"

Mercedes cleared her throat as her chest tightened with emotion. Sam was back. She avoided Santana's eyes.

"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"

"You two dated-"

"-For a few weeks, Santana."

Santana stopped walking pulling the girl to her side.

"Look, Wheezy, I know you. You love deep and I know you wouldn't have wasted time with Trouty Mouth if you didn't love him or at least cared for him. I know you don't want to talk about him and I'll respect that; we've only started hanging out for over a few weeks now so I don't expect you to spill your guts out to me. But with that said if you ever wanna talk about it I'll listen and if you want I can get rid of him." She smirked

She started walking ignoring the look Mercedes gave her.

"I won't kill him, 'Retha. I do however have a bucket full of fish bait with his name on it. If his face bothers you I can just attached it to a fishing rod and lead him back into the river to the lost city of Atlantis back to his people."

The words were insulting as usual but Mercedes could hear the sincerity in them. She rested her head against the taller girl's shoulder telling her thanks without words. She took a deep breath trying to ignore the emotions brewing inside her soul.

 _Skies grew darker_

 _Currents swept you out again_

 _And you were gone, gone and gone._

 _In silent screams_

 _In wildest dreams_

 _I never dreamed of this_

She took mechanical steps as her mind wandered back to the weeks after Sam left. She thought back to the crippling pain when they were pulled apart in the midst of a storm. While he drifted further from her she was stuck in the storm without a life raft in sight. She had to learn to swim through the bone-chilling cold loneliness. She had to fight through the blinding rain and roaring thunder until she could find calmer waters.

 _This love is good, this love is bad_

 _This love is alive back from the dead_

 _These hands had to let it go free_

 _And this love come back to._

She finally found peace after she let him go and now he was back. Now he was back and making her remember all the amazing times they had- all the secret smiles, all the lingering looks and all the sweet kisses.

 _Tossing, turning, struggled through the night with someone new_

 _And I could go on, on and on_

 _Lantern burning, flickered in my mind for only you_

 _but you're still gone, gone, gone_

This was unfair! She had Shane and he was good to her. Yet still all she could think about was Sam. All she could ever think about was Sam even when she didn't know it herself but she would subconsciously think about his reaction to certain scene in a movie or wonder what he was doing, And it was unfair that he still haunted her and still had such power over her even though she has not seen him yet. It was unfair that her lie of him being a 'summer fling' was unraveling at the seams. It was unfair that her lies of loving Shane whilst a part of her heart still wanted him was creating a tidal wave of emotions inside her and questions floating around her head. Did she still love him; did he still love her; what about Shane?

 _Been losing grip_

 _Oh sinking ships_

 _You showed up just in time_

Mercedes went through the motions the rest of the day telling her that seeing Sam would not affect her at all. She would be polite, smile at him, and then be on her jolly way. She kept on repeating her mantra through out the day that she barely paid attention to her surroundings. Surprisingly she has not seen him yet and she was not sure if she should be relieved or not. She headed to her last class of the day- file in hand. She was so lost in thoughts that she failed to notice Sam waiting for her at the end of the stairwell until she walked past him and he grabbed her hand.

Instinctively Mercedes' fingers laced with his and warmth spread to every part of her. She immediately recognized his familiar touch and looked up at him in shock at his boldness. She did not let go of his hand and frigidly asked:

"What are you doing?"

He smiled at her told her as if it was most natural thing in the world.

"Holding your hand."

She let his hand go as if it was on fire, angry at herself. She had a boyfriend. A nice caring boyfriend and here she was enjoying the warmth and familiarity of her ex-boyfriend.

"Don't," she nearly hissed in irritation at him and herself.

"Sam, look I-"

"I heard about your boyfriend." He stated calmly.

"Then you heard he's built like a bulldozer."

She slowed her pace prompting him to do the same then she walked up in front of him with her hand raised a small sigh leaving her lips as she clutched the purple folder to her chest.

"We had a summer fling." She said with confidence looking into his beautiful green eyes

 _'Lies, lies, lies!'_ her heart whispered.

"It was more than that," He said without missing a beat. The certainty in his voice matches the dogma in his eyes.

Mercedes sighed looking everywhere but him before she decided to stand her ground and be a woman.

"I'll always have a special place in my heart for you but I moved on and you need to do the same."

She spun around on the balls of her feet and continued down the hall ignoring the fact that every single cell in her body wanted to turn around and hold on to him tightly.

"I don't care how big and bad your boyfriend is. I'm gonna fight to get you back!" He announced for the world to hear.

And just like that those butterflies returned and rockets went off in her heart.

 _This love is good, this love is bad_

 _This love is alive back from the dead_

 _These hands had to let it go free_

 _And this love came back to me_

 _This love left a permanent mark._

 _This love is glowing in the dark_

 _These hands it to let it go free_

 _And this love came back to me_

 _This love, this love, this love, this love...[x4]_

* * *

Mercedes was the first one at practice. She was so lost in thought she failed to notice Santana and Britney walk into the room. The two girls sat on either side of her.

"Hey, Wheezy!"

"Huh?" Mercedes asked grabbing her chest in shock trying to calm her now erratic heart.

Santana rolled her eyes.

"I see you're thinking about Trouty Mouth."

"What- Why would you say so?" She asked once her heart started slowing down again.

Santana raised a perfectly sculpted brow before rolling her eyes and shrugging.

"I can't blame you though? I saw him earlier when I welcomed him back. He got taller and sexier- whatever they have in Kentucky has been good to him! Plus his hair is shorter now...it's sexy. I can't blame you for wantin' in on that, the boy is looking all kinds of fly."

Mercedes wish she could disagree but that would be a blatant lie. The few moths Sam was away have been good to him. He grew taller, he was muscular and oh soul, the shorter hair was sexy!

"Yip and those lips look mighty fine." Britney threw in next to her bumping her shoulder with a small smile painted on her lips.

'Hmm' Santana agreed crossing her legs. "I used to kiss them guppy lips. You're lucky I don't like guys and I got Brit or else we'll be having another Puck-off."

Mercedes giggled.

"That was sad. What was wrong with us? Puck, of all the people in the world we chose to fight over Puck."

"I know, right?" She rolled her eyes before turning serious:"-But on a serious note, I heard Quinn asked him out again and he declined and later he stood in the hallway declaring his undying love for you."

Mercedes rolled her eyes with a small smile.

"He didn't proclaim his undying love for me. He just said he'd fight for me."

Santana fanned herself.

"Oh, sweet mercy! That's kinda sexy."

Mercedes laughed and bumped Santana's shoulder. Before she could reply, the rest of the group came pouring in.

Mercedes chose to force the thoughts of Sam into the dark corners of her mind until later. Now she had practice so that she and her team could kick ass Friday.

Sam was persistent. He winked at her when he saw her. He would gently graze his fingers over hers when they passed each other causing her heart to flutter. He left tulips in her locker every morning with romantic song quotes- Bieber songs to be exact causing her to smile. The first song choice was of course ' _Boyfriend '_ causing her to burst out in laughter the first day and causing the students in the hall to look at her like she was crazy. She met Sam's green gaze- he had a cheeky grin on his face and had the nerve to wink at her.

Today though there was a purple lily instead of a tulip- attached was a note with the song of the day on.

 _'With me, girl, is where you belong._

 _Just stay right here_

 _I promise my dear I'll put nothing above you_

 _Above you_

 _Love me, love me_

 _Say that you love me_

 _Fool me, fool me_

 _Oh how you do me_

 _Kiss me, kiss me_

 _Say that you miss me_

 _Tell me what I wanna hear_

 _Tell me you (love me)_

 _Love me, love me_

 _Fool me, fool me_

 _Oh how you do me_

 _Kiss me, kiss me_

 _Say that you miss me_

 _Tell me what I wanna hear_

 _Tell me you love me._

- _The immortal words of Justin Bieber's Love Me._

 _(The guy whose garden I stole the tulips from threatened to beat me up so I had to find a new garden (old people are so violent!). Unfortunately, Mrs. Greene doesn't have tulips but she has like millions of purple lilies so I found a new source. Anyway, good luck for tonight I know you'll do amazing 'cause amazing people do amazing things! I'll be your loudest supporter tonight! PS- I'm dedicating my body roll to you, Ms. Jones and you shall be dazzled.)_

Mercedes giggled and closed the note. She picked up the lily and sniffed it with a small smile on her lips.

"What's so funny, baby?"

Mercedes started inside her open locker in shock racking her brain for what to say now.

 _'Crap!'_

She painted a fake smile on her lip and placed the note and lily back into her locker. She turned to see her _BOYFRIEND_ staring at her curiously. His gaze shifted to the items she forced in her locker. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried ignoring the guilt washing over her. She had a boyfriend. She had a good, protective boyfriend who supported her and here she was thinking about another boy.

"I-I just read a note Santana left for me. She left me a flower too...for tonight. It's for... good luck." _Wow Mercedes your the worst liar in the world_...well it wasn't exactly 100% a lie. He asked what was funny and she told him the truth- the note was funny (in a cute way) she just lied about the sender... It was a 50% lie.

"Oh, well, that's nice." Shane said with a small shrug.

Mercedes gave him a tightlipped smile and closed her locker with an awkward nod

"Yeah, you know Santana- always doing nice things for people."

 _'Shut-up! Shut-up mouth!_ _Seriously, you could not have told a more believable lie?'_

Shane raised a brow at that as if to ask _'Really are we sure we're talking about the same person?'_

Mercedes gave an awkward smile.

"I gotta get to class, I'll see you later."

She started walking away when Shane called after her asking her what time he should be there tonight and if she wanted to do something afterwards but she pretended not to hear him. She flew around the comer straight into the arms of a muscular figure. She immediately recognized his scent. Her body immediately reacted to his, heating her up from the tip of her toes to the crown of her head. She could feel his strong hands around her waist keeping her steady. She bit her lip and started chanting in her head-

 _'Please be Chris Pine- please be Chris Pine-'_

"I'm not gonna disappear and turn into Taylor Lautner or Chris Pine, sorry babe." His cheery voice washed over her in amusement.

She opened her eyes and stepped out of his embrace- her soul instantly missed the warmth of his presence. She cleared her throat, kept her eyes focused on the ground and mumbled.

"Sorry."

She tried walking past him- he stepped in front of her. She tried going past him the other side- he did the same thing again. She was starting to get irritated now.

"Sorry." He said.

She knew he was not sorry.

"You look pretty by the way. You look pretty everyday. Does Shane tell you that? 'Cause if he doesn't he's blind."

She rolled her eyes and bit her lip as warmth spread to her cheeks.

"Sam, I'm gonna be late for class."

He held out his arm for me to take. "I'll walk you-"

"No, Sam-"

"Something bad can happen along the way. I just want to make sure you get the safely-"

"Nothing is gonna happen from here to my class-"

"How do you know?"

I rolled my eyes.

"Pray tell, what do you think can happen?"

Sam shrugged pulling a face as he thought. Suddenly enlightenment spread over his face.

"You could get attack by a troll."

Mercedes burst out in laugher- her body shaking.

"What?"

"Yeah, you heard me correctly. Rachel is a hobbit and she's in this world- who says she hasn't brought other creatures and monsters with her from The Lord of the Rings universe."

Mercedes could not control the laughter bubbling inside her. She nearly chocked on her own saliva as she laughed at Sam's reasoning. She leaned against a wall for support- her eyes burning with tears of joy. Once she finally had control over her body, she straightened her spine and wiped away her tears- grinning at Sam in amusement.

"I really have to go now and I can protect myself, Sam. Samurai, remember?" She joked and slid past him.

She heard him chuckle behind her causing her to smile. Millions of butterflies fluttered in her belly at the sound of his deep throaty chuckle.

 _Your kiss, my cheek, I watched you leave_

 _Your smile, my ghost, I fell to my knees_

 _When you're young you just run_

 _But you come back to what you need_

 _This love is good, this love is bad_

 _This love is alive back from the dead_

 _These hands had to let it go free_

 _This love came back to me_

They lost- they freaking lost. She expected to walk the halls of WMHS as a winner and a finalist at Nationals that Monday morning. She did not. Shelby was leaving; the Troubletones disbanded... she felt like a failure. However, she refused to look sad- she was a warrior- she led a group of fierce women into to battle against the New Directions-she was awesome. Awesome people do awesome stuff. She smiled at the quote.

She opened her locker on Monday morning finding a note and a dozen tulips staring at her. She smiled and opened the note.

 _Your lips, my biggest weakness._

 _Shouldn't have let you known_

 _I'm always gonna do what they say (hey)_

 _If you need me_

 _I'll come runnin'_

 _From a thousand miles away_

 _When you smile I smile (oh whoa)_

 _You smile, I smile._

 _Mr. Rogers (yeah he has Captain America's surname! Mind blown!) is so gonna kill me for this. If I disappear without a trace, it will be because I stole flowers out of his garden again for you. At least I know I put a smile on that beautiful face of yours._

 _You guys did amazing! You looked all kinds of H.O.T, Ms Jones, burning up that stage! I had to give a few people the death stare backstage. But honestly, babe, you did amazing Friday night- the epitome of a superstar. I'm proud of you so don't you dare do anything besides smile today because you were epic on that stage._

Mercedes smiled closing her locker feeling a million times better than she did when she woke up this morning. Sam always had a way of making her smile or laugh without doing much. His words- though not Shakespearian- always warmed her heart. That is why she loves him-

Loved

That is why she loved him.

She had Shane now.

"Why are so cheery this morning- we lost or have you forgotten?" Santana asked leaning against a nearby locker. Britney stood behind her playing with the raven-haired girl's ponytail. Mercedes was about to answer when a brave soul asked Santana if he could use his locker Santana was leaning on. The girl glared at him making the poor soul scurry away in fear. Mercedes linked her arm with Santana's leading the girl to the bathroom where she did her morning ritual of making sure her razorblades were well hidden.

Mercedes leaned against the basin waiting for Santana to continue her ranting.

"I can't believe we lost-" Mercedes nodded at the Latina. "-I blame you."

Mercedes raised a brow ready to give the girl a tongue-lashing enough to make the devil's ears burn. How dare she-

"Before summer that damn Trouty Mouth didn't have rhythm much less those moves. You just had to give him some chocolate loving and swag him up, didn't you?"

"Wait-what?" Mercedes was totally confused now.

Santana rolled her eyes and took out her eye-pencil.

"That body roll won the thing for them. I know Fishy fish lips could not have mastered that without some help and since you spent summer with him I'm blaming you."

Mercedes rolled her eyes thinking back to their body roll competition in the tilt-a-whirl line making her heart flutter. She still cannot believe he actually did it on stage and had the nerve to wink at her afterwards.

"Damn that Trouty Mouth with his sexy moves making my lady parts tingle!"

Hers weren't the only...

'Really, Mercedes? Bad girl. Celibate! You are celibate!'

 _This love left a permanent mark_

 _This love is glowing in the dark_

 _These hands had to let it go free_

 _And this love came back to me._

* * *

After contemplating Quinn's offer and finally accepting, Mercedes found herself surrounded by her friends in the auditorium. She missed them... a lot. Yeah, her relationship with Schuester was still on the rocks but she missed her outcast friends and at least now her voice could be heard when the Troubletones had their own song.

Mercedes felt eyes on her; she turned to find Sam's eyes lingering on her. He gave her a lopsided grin that used to make her warm and tingly inside- it still had the effect judging by the wild drumming of her heart.

She gave him a small smile before returning to her attention to Tina and Mike.

 _This love, this love, this love, this love..._

* * *

 **Soooooo, what do we think? Yay :) or Nay :( Please review.**


	11. leave your lover

**I'm back! I hope you guys enjoy.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Glee or the lyrics of the song _Leave Your Lover_ by the talented Sam Smith :) I also don't own Mariah Carey's _All I Want For Christmas._**

* * *

 _I don't have much to give, but I don't care for gold_

 _What use is money when you need someone to hold_

 _Don't have direction, I'm just rolling down this road_

 _Waiting for you to bring me in from out the cold_

It has been two weeks since the Troubletones have rejoined the New Directions and it has been nothing but pure torture for Sam. Seeing her everyday sitting only a few chairs away from her but not being able to talk to her because she was trying to ignore his existence...in all honesty it was pissing him off. Seriously, how could the girl not see he was still in love with her? It's not like he was hiding it...and how could she not see that she was still madly in love with him to? He saw it in those beautiful brown eyes that tried avoiding his gaze but that he sometimes found staring his direction. He saw it in the way she smiled when she read his daily letters...

Speaking about daily letters...he was busy running out of Justin Bieber songs luckily he still had One Direction as a back-up plan. But he really wished his girl- though she would deny still being that- would stop being stubborn and just accept the fact that she still loved him like he loved her.

 _You'll never know the endless nights,_

 _the rhyming of the rain_

 _Or how it feels to fall behind_

 _And watch you call his name_

Thus far, his week sucked and seeing Mercedes parading down the halls with her freaking bodyguard didn't make it any better. He thought he was finally making progress with Mercedes when she sang 'All I Want for Christmas' to him (yeah, he totally saw her staring at him when she sang and he did not miss the twinkle in her eyes when she freaking nearly seduced him with that garland she threw around his neck as she sang for him ). Yet when he tried talking to her about her song choice, she jetted out of the room like he was a serial killer or something. Then there was also the whole Glee club acting like selfish jerks while they could help poor suffering homeless people. The only positive thing about this week was that he was going to see his folks for the holidays before coming back and helping to serve food for the homeless.

He was brought back to the present and looked up from his locker; he was busy unlocking it, when he heard her sweet melodic laughter. He saw her joking with Britney whilst Santana took a drink from the fountain. All of a sudden, Shane appeared out of nowhere and wrapped her arms around her waist resting his head on her shoulder. He saw Santana roll her eyes once she was done drinking. Santana bid her a goodbye before grabbing Britney's arm and leading her down the hall.

Sam growled under his breath in irritation. He was supposed to have her in his arms. He was supposed to rest his head on her shoulder and nuzzle her neck as he breathed her in. He sighed. Did she not know how he missed her? Did she not know how much it hurt seeing Shane do all the things that he was supposed to be doing with her. He turned back to his locker continuing to open his locker but struggling. He punched the thing in irritation just as Santana and Britney passed him.

He heard the squeak of Santana shoes.

"Look, Guppy face, I like you." Sam looked at the Latina with her arm in Britney's. "I think of you as a pet goldfish. But you can't just swim up the stream back into the pond and expect her to fall back into your flippers. I have always liked 'Retha before but now she is my homegirl and we talk. I'm not gonna tell you what she said to me though. Anyhow, if you know, Aretha you know she's not gonna just dump the overgrown leopard seal pup for you no matter how soft those pillow lips of yours are. And I know it frustrates you 'cause you like love her or something, but taking it out on your locker ain't gonna make her run back to you. I just wish you guys work out your crap so that you could stop looking like a wounded puppy."

With that said Santana turned on her heel and led Britney down the hall. The blonde threw him a small supportive smile over her shoulder.

Sam sighed and continued opening his locker. Inside he found an Avengers wrapped gift with a big blue bow. He raised a brow confused. He took it out and studied it before taking the envelope out. His name was scrawled over it in a purple in a familiar italic handwriting. He read it.

 _'I hope you enjoy you Christmas with the fam. Tell them I said 'Hi' and I miss them._

 _I got you a present. I hope you like.'_

 _-'Cedes_

He smiled and unwrapped the present before opening the medium-sized box. Inside he found a few rolled up and signed Captain America, Avenger's and Man of Steel posters. He also found a few comic books and superhero T-shirts. In the box, he found another small wrapped box. He opened it to find a dark blue guitar pick with his name on it in black. He flipped it around to see a phrase written at the back:

'You don't need superpowers to be a superhero.' Next to the quote was a picture of a Batman.

Sam smiled. The girl knew him too well- that is way he loved her so much. She still loved him even though she refused to admit it. He was going to go home, lick his wounds and come up with a new game plan to win her back.

 _Pack up and leave everything_

 _Don't you see what I can bring_

 _Can't keep this beating heart at bay_

 _Set my midnight sorrow free_

 _I will give you all of me_

 _Just leave your lover, leave him for me_

 _Leave your lover, leave him for me_

* * *

The weeks following Christmas break were better between the two. At least now she looked at him and smiled at him when they passed each other in the hall. At times, they would even make small talk in Glee. He usually flirted heavily at those times and she would roll her eyes at him and remind him that she was dating Shane (which really sucked and tolly dampened the mood).

Then one day Mr. Schue came gliding into Glee announcing he wanted to propose to Ms. Pillsbury and Sam glanced at Mercedes realizing he'd totally marry her someday.

"Hey!" He called after the short girl. She smiled at him looking over her shoulder before slowing down so he could catch up. "Pretty romantic huh? Think you're going to get married someday?"

"After I win my first Grammy." She said confidently.

"You have any idea who the guy is gonna be 'cause I know this dude that's great at impressions and totally into you." He said slyly as she unlocked her locker.

She rolled her eyes.

"Sam stop. I'm with Shane."

"It's because I'm white, right?"

He seriously could not understand why in the hell she was fighting him on this. Was he too white? Was he too blonde? Was he too geeky? Seriously, he was starting to get self-conscious.

"Are you insane?" She asked throwing him a look.

"Okay then it's because he' such a stud athlete. The letterman jacket makes all the girls go wild I know."

He knew how the varsity athlete jacket made girls flock to a guy. It was a symbol of respect and hard work and girl liked those things.

He watched her sigh.

"It was a summer fling, Sam."

Urgh, 'summer fling'! Those words irritated the hell out of him. They were more than just a 'summer fling', He hated that she played what they had down like that. They were more than lovers they were freaking best friends too.

He thought back to their summer and smiled lowering his voice. Hopefully this would make her see some reason.

"You tell me thinking about that tilt-and whirl at the carnival doesn't make you smile?"

A shy smile graced her lips as she thought back to the time where Sam nearly puked and stumbled around like a drunkard.

"Okay, that was fun-" He smiled but it soon fell when she continued her sentence. "-But I'm with Shane now. Sorry but summer is long over."

With those words said, she closed her locker and walked towards her bulky boyfriend. He watch the couple walk away and her run her hands up his jacket.

 _'He needed to get_ _a jacket again._ '

* * *

He walked out of his first synchronized swimming practice. Okay, synchronized swimming was not the hottest sport around but hey- he got his jacket and it was worth all coach Roz's insults, which would actually be funny if they were not aimed at him. He found Finn in the hall riding on his high of getting his jacket back but then Finn had to tell him swimming was not sexy. He faltered a bit but then he saw her and he knew she would not care about the sport he played.

He painted a smile on his face making way towards the short girl standing on her toes as she reached for a book. His game plan- walk up to her, slyly lean over her shoulder and help her and sexily whispering in her ear. He would then slyly let her know he now owned his own jacket. But then a bunch of Hockey players had to ruin everything by slushing him right there in front of everybody and the girl he was trying to impress.

Mercedes gasped and made her way towards him. With her gentle fingers, she swept away the flavored icy drink of his face. He missed those small hands so much after months of not feeling them. Even though he just bathed in ice, her touch warmed every part of his being as only she could. He opened his mouth to tell her thanks but then a voice sliced through the air.

"What's going on, Baby?"

Sam pulled a face. He really did not like his voice. He did not like him period. Yeah, he barely knew the guy but he was trying to get frisky with _his_ girl and that was enough to make Sam really not like him. He could not really blame Shane for wanting Mercedes but she was still _his_ girl so his existence was really nothing less than a nuisance to him.

"Just helping out a friend," she said continuing with her task.

"I think he'll pull through. Let me walk you to study hall"

She locked eyes with him for a second making him see her remorse and reluctance. She lingered for a few more seconds to wipe away more ice before leaving his side. He turned and looked at the two figures walking away from him. She looked over her shoulder at him sadly before turning around again.

He sighed hearing his heartbreak as she walked away. He wanted her with him. He needed her with him.

 _We sit in bars and raise our drink to growing old_

 _Oh I'm in love with you and you will never know_

 _But if I can't have you, I want this life alone_

 _Spare you the rising storms and let the rivers flow._

He decided to give up. Clearly, Mercedes was dedicated to Shane and fighting for her was taking its toll on him. Plus he was suspecting Mrs. Greene was starting to notice her shrinking garden- the elderly woman was giving him lingering glares when he passed her house.

He was already on his way to Mercedes locker to tell her he would back off even though it went against every fiber of his being. He walked a few steps behind Brit and Santana; he could not help but overhear their conversation.

"-Why was Mercedes sad yesterday?" He heard Britney asked the raven-haired girl linking pinkies.

"It was that damn, Trouty Mouth again and his fishy face." Santana said.

'What did Sam do now?'

The girl continued.

"We were pitching a proposal idea for Schuester so we sang The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face and she was having these flashbacks of the Lisa Rena stunt double and she got all teary eyed because she wasn't thinking about Shane and now she's confused. Well more confused than before. Look, I love that girl, I do but she has to work out her crap. If I were her I'd go for Trouty Mouth- yeah his lips may suck you in but he is wayyyyy hotter than the overgrown seal pup." Santana sighed.

A smile spread over his face.

This was a sign that he still needed to fight for her. He would make her see that what she felt for him was love and no distance or time changed that.

The rest of the day, Sam floated around school on a high. He heard Artie talk about a new proposal idea for Mr. Schue, which got him thinking how he would propose to his dream girl one day. A perfect idea came to him - all thanks to coach Roz. He pitched his idea to Schue and luckily, the teacher loved it.

A day later, when Rachel was singing he felt her gaze on him making him look back at her. She gave him a small smile- he returned it before turning back. Yep, the girl still loved him.

 _Pack up and leave everything_

 _Don't you see what I can bring_

 _Can't keep this beating heart at bay_

 _Set my midnight sorrow free_

 _I will give you all of me_

 _Just leave your lover, leave him for me_

 _Leave your lover, leave him for me_

* * *

A week later, he was still leaving notes in her locker and they were still not progressing. Luckily it was Michael week and the king of pop gave him an amazing idea. He begged Lauren to help him get the rest of the AV club to help him. It took a lot of begging and chocolates but luckily the girl liked Mercedes so she agreed.

He remembered her telling him how she wrote songs and how much she loved music. He knew she was going to be a superstar one day. He remembered the utter joy she radiated when she danced and sang at Regionals. She looked at home on that stage. That is what inspired his idea.

He texted her after he set up everything calling her to the auditorium. At first, she was aloof and walked out but then he started playing and she started singing.

They sang together for the first time and their voices were magic together. Even though hers was clearly superior, their voices complemented one another. Sparks flew as they sang dancing around each other. He smiled at her looking in her eyes as the words left hid mouth. As the song neared its end, the two ex-lovers stared at each other. The air was thick with intimacy as he studied the face he missed so much. On their own accord, their face leaned in. She looked in his eyes uncertain but she did not lean away from him. She closed her eyes as closed the millimeters between their lips. His lips touched hers for only a few seconds but that was enough for his heart to sky rocket and his body to heat up.

She pulled away first staring at him in shock, love and guilt.

"I-I have to go." She turned on the balls of her feet running out of the auditorium as if the hounds of hell were chasing her.

"Mercedes!" He called after her struggling with the guitar around his neck.

She disappeared out the door.

At first he wanted to beat himself up for kissing her (okay, they were both to blame) and he felt like he messed up but then he realized that she kissed him because she still loved him too. But he knew Mercedes and he knew she would shrink back into her shell and continue walking down the halls with Shane pretending like nothing happened. However, Sam was done with the subtle approach- he was gonna walk up to her locker, kiss the daylights out of her and tell her he was done playing games... Shane be damned. Sam was getting his girl back

The next day he walked towards her locker and found her but before he could grab her and smash his lips to hers, she turned to face him and held up her hand. The words out of her mouth made him raise a brow.

"I think we need therapy?"

"What?" He asked and shook his head. "We're not crazy. Why do you think we need therapy? I'm not crazy. Are you crazy? 'Cedes what happened since I've been gone? Do I need to send you to an asylum-"

She smiled rolling her eyes as she hit him. He grinned at her pretending to rub the spot in pain.

"I'm serious, Sam. I think we should go kiss- I mean see-"

Sam grinned. She hit him again embarrassed.

"I meant see, Sam. We should go see Ms. Pillsbury."

Sam sighed running a hand through his hair as he leaned against a locker.

"But why?" He childishly moaned

"Because-" she lowered her voice as if she committed murder. "-We kissed yesterday and I liked it... a lot-"

He smirked.

"But it was wrong, Sam." She sighed watching his smile falter. "I care for Shane, a lot. You weren't here and I know it was not by choice but still. Shane supported me when I needed somebody. And I can't just ignore what I feel for him because of you. It's confusing-"

"Do you love him?" Sam asked seriously. _'Please say no'_ he wanted to add

"Sam-"

"Do you love him, Mercedes?"

She stared at her hands.

"In a way, I do."

"What does that mean?"

"I don't know." She cried looking up at him before whispering defeated: "I don't know, Sam. I'm confused and that's why I need therapy."

Sam sighed and groaned resting his head against the locker in frustration. Most of the glee club was already up in their business and now she wanted to share it with Ms. Pillsbury. He looked into those brown innocent orbs and groaned. He loved those eyes but at times like these- at times when he really wanted to say no and she looked at him like that- he liked them less. She was so lucky he adored her so much.

"Fine, I'll go to couples counseling with you."

"We aren't a couple-"

"Hmmm, not officially."

Mercedes rolled her eyes closing her locker.

"See you later?"

"Yeah, yeah."

She threw him a large smile before disappearing into the crowd of students

* * *

"So you're a two-timing ho?"

"So, you're dating a two-timing ho," He read amused.

"Ms. Pillsbury, I don't sleep around that's not me"

Sam thought back to those painfully good make out sessions that left his body in a state of havoc. Of course, Mercedes did not notice at the time being the innocent she was. His girl was the furthest thing from a ho. In the whole Glee club Mercedes was probably the only girl that was not a ho...and maybe Tina? Sam was unsure about Tina.

"Okay."

"I'm just trying to listen to my heart and it's like I can't hear what its trying to tell me."

"Well, if you really wanna listen, you need to stop talking," the guidance counselor said. Sam nearly burst out laughing at the 'What are you talking 'bout'-face Mercedes pulled. The girl was just too damn adorable at times.

"There's a lot of communication in your lives these days with texting and Facebook. I mean you don't have quiet times with yourself to make informed decisions on-"

Sam tuned her out after she said texting and pulled out his phone and opened his Twitter app. Soon a beep alerting Mercedes of a notification rang through the small office. She looked at the notification.

"Sam just tweeted that I smell good."

"I won't stop till it's trending." He said blatantly staring at her.

"This is my point," the redhead muttered. "I think that you and Sam should spend a week not talking to each other, no email no text. Nothing. And I think at the end of that week you'll have a much better idea of what you true feelings are."

Sam was about to object. He did not sign up for this! This was just going to counteract all the progress he made so far. Before he could interject the guidance counselor stopped him by raising a hand in the air,

"Starting-" She looked at the clock. "-Starting...now." The bell rang. "Hooray not speaking," she said clapping her hands.

* * *

At first, the _Week of Silence_ thing felt like a breeze. That is until he would hear a funny joke and practice a new impression to try out on her and realized they were not allowed to talk. It was hard enough without her singing to him in Glee. Then the girl started singing in Spanish and damn it was hot and he wanted to tell her _"Dora taught you well!"._

He stressed his ass off searching for the right song to sing to hear- he was out of Justin Bieber songs and One Direction would not really do with the week's project so after hours of research and begging Mike to help him with dance moves he decided on a mash up between Bamboleo and Hero.

Yeah, he was standing in front of the Glee club officially singing how he wanted to be her hero even without superpowers (as the guitar pick said he did not need powers to be a hero...to be her hero) and how he wanted to kiss away the pain of him leaving. He wanted to go back in time and change it all so badly just for her.

She avoided his gaze once the song finished and Mr. Schue started asking unnecessary questions.

The rest of the week went by too slow for him and all he could do was give Mercedes lingering looks when she passed him in the halls. He even heard a few time from Santana in the passing saying that he looked like a kicked fish (seriously, when was she going to get over the fact that he had larger than normal lips? It was getting old). All he could do was stare as Shane held her hand everyday, he did however notice that she seemed in a faraway land when he did which kinda gave him some hope.

The last day of the _Week of Silence_ had arrived and he stood there in the hallway waiting for the clock to finally hit the twelve. The bell rang; he stood rooted to his spot as random bodies passed him waiting for Mercedes.

He started doubting if she would come. What if she decided to stick with Shane and send him to his way? He started hyperventilating again but then he saw he short figure heading his way with a gorgeous smile on her lips. He smiled at her slowly making his way towards her. As he walked, he could see the excitement in her brown orbs. They met each other half way neither saying anything. They both had so much to say but had no idea where to begin. They ignored the dull chattering of the passing crowd making them feel like the only people in the hall

Sam opened his mouth ready to break the silence between them but then suddenly Shane appeared out of nowhere wiping the smile off his face.

"There you are baby-" He saw Mercedes eyes grow twice their size before she closed them cringing.

Shane put an arm around her and asked her to go to lunch with him off campus. The large man greeted him politely before taking Mercedes hand. She lingered looking back at him for only a second before turning around and letting Shane lead her away. Sam watched her leave with him before turning around broken-hearted...

 _Leave your lover, leave him for me..._

 **:)**

 **Okay, after this no more angst for a while! :) We need some happy Samcedes again :)**

 **Side Note: I started a Samcedes story which is called 'Our Story: Untold'…I couldn't come up with a cool title yet. Anyhow take a look on my profile if you haven't read it yet.**


	12. Fire Meet Gasoline

**I promised I would write an one-shot centering around Etta James's At Last and I will...I just need like an awesome one shot idea to go with that beautiful song.**

 **Disclaimer: I do not own glee or its characters. Also, do not own Fire and Gasoline by Sia.**

* * *

 _Things between them ever since Valentines Day were tense. Yes, Sam still threw her lost-and kicked puppy looks whenever he saw her- which was all the freaking time._

 _Even though he was still madly in love with her he was hurt by her words and of course that freaking song...seriously, he would never be able to listen to that song ever again without crying._

 _Talking about crying, Sam Evans never cried about a girl before that day. When Quinn cheated on him; yeah he was hurt but he did not sob into a pillow when he got home._

 _She was like fire to him- beautiful, warm yet deadly when one got to close..._

* * *

 _It's dangerous to fall in love_

 _But I want to burn with you tonight_

 _Hurt me_

 _There's two of us_

 _Bristling with desire_

 _The pleasure pain and fire_

 _Burn me._

After she left with Shane leaving him behind heartbroken in that hall, Sam swore to himself he would move on. He promised himself he would respect her choice and leave them in the past. He promised himself that even though it felt like his heart was breaking all over again he would be okay...and he was for a few days.

He and she continued passing one another in the hall, he would cast his eyes down. In Glee he would ignore her presence- the plan had worked for a while...until Friday afternoon that is.

He decided he needed to get away from Kurt and Finn for a while. He needed some space to think. So, he took a walk through the streets of Lima no destination in mind. The setting sun painted the sky in shades of orange and blues infusing with one another. On their own accord, his feet led him to the lake that held so many beautiful summer memories. He sat on the dock of the lake taking a few seconds to appreciate the view of the usually blue crystal water mirroring the orange and blue of the sky on its surface.

From the corner of his eye, he caught the movement of an approaching figure in the distance making its way closer. He looked up to see a familiar face approaching.

She pause mid-step- he could see she was deliberating if she should leave or not now that she saw it was him. He saw her take a deep breath before continue walking towards him. He fixed his gaze on the water pulling his knees to his chest praying that she would go away.

She did not.

She sat down next to him. The familiar scent of apple pie engulfed him in its hold bringing back memories he wanted to forget so badly. Neither said anything only staring at the calm water in front of them for a few minutes. Words burned on both their tongues but nether wanted to break the tranquil intimacy of the moment. Sam sighed.

A ring broke the silence. The ringing came from Mercedes' phone. He glanced at her to see her read a text before placing the phone back into her jean pocket. He moved his gaze back to the water. He kept his voice blank as he spoke:

"What are you doing here?"

Mercedes shrugged.

"This is a free country; I'm allowed to be here, Sam."

He said nothing only continued staring at the lake until he heard Mercedes sigh.

"I love you, Sam."

Sam clenched his jaw- angry that his heart was betraying him. Mercedes Jones was the deadly sun in his constellation. She was the star he was helplessly orbiting around, powerless to its great force of gravity. But she did not want him anymore. His sun left him behind and moved on with her life…with someone new. His heart got used to the lost of the warmth in her eyes, the bright blinding light of her smile but now here she was pulling him back with her gravity...pulling him closer and closer into her dangerous burning fire.

"You're dating Shane, remember?" He said bitterly referring to all the times she shared the unccessary information.

"I know."

"So how can you date him if you love me?" He asked crossing his legs and studying his jeans.

Mercedes swallowed the lump in her throat and looked at the boy who stole her heart so many months ago.

"You were gone, Sam." She said thinking back to those lonely, heartbreaking months.

He looked at her- really looked at her for the first time. She looked as exhausted and as sad as he was.

"But I'm back now-"

"And you can leave again-"

"I won't-"

"How do you know tha-"

"How do you know I will leave again?" He asked. "I'm not leaving, Mercedes."

He looked at her sad eyes. He could feel his mind and body give up the fight against his heart. He could feel the burning want for her. Like he said...she was his sun. She was pulling him in again with her gravity...closer and closer. He knew she was going to burn him again. He knew his heart was going to shatter yet again...but he could not help but want her. He was going to get hurt.

 _So come on_

 _I'll take you on, take you on_

 _I ache for love, ache for us_

 _Why don't you come_

 _Don't come closer_

 _So come on now_

 _Strike the match, strike the match now_

 _We're a perfect match, perfect somehow_

 _We were meant for one another._

 _Come a little closer._

She looked away staring at her knees- not being able to take the genuine, raw pain in his eyes. She repeated her mantra more to herself than to Sam:

"I'm dating Shane."

"Do you love him?" Sam asked after a slight pause. He stared at her bowed head. She refused to look at him so he gently placed his fingertips on her chin moving her head and forcing her to look at him. He slid closer whispering each word slowly:

"Do you love him?"

She bit her lip trying to look down but he held her gaze with his hypnotic eyes. She could not lie to him. She could not lie to those beautiful, child-like eyes that took her breath away...so she kept her mouth shut not wanting to utter the truth.

Sam said nothing, just staring into her dark expressive eyes. His fingers danced over the soft skin he longed to touch so long.

"You don't, do you?" He whispered rubbing his thumb over her lips. He looked at them for a few seconds feeling the familiar ache to touch them with his own.

"You weren't here, Sam. He was. I cannot just pretend that we never happened just because your back, Sam. I owe him my loyalty. He loves me...I can't break his heart." Mercedes whispered.

Without realizing it their heads were slowly moving together so close that his breath caressed her lips.

"You don't love him like you love me." Sam whispered, his lips touching hers so gently.

She swallowed the lump in her throat. The ache to kiss him was too much to bear. Her mind was whispering her mantra; _'I'm dating, Shane._ ' but her body and her heart did not care.

"Tell me not to." Sam whispered placing a little more pressure on her lips with his. "Tell me not to and I will stop." He whispered looking into her eyes.

She could not...she did not want to. Mercedes felt drunk. Sam's presence was intoxicating so she closed her eyes giving into the ache for him. She kissed him ever so gently cupping his face with her hands.

 _Flame you come to me_

 _Fire meet gasoline._

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _I'm burning alive_

 _I can barely breathe_

 _When you're here loving me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _fire meet gasoline_

 _I got all I need_

 _When you came after me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _I'm burning alive_

 _And I can barley breathe_

 _When you're here loving me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _Burn with me tonight_

She felt on fire. A match went off in her heart. Her lips moved danced with his as if no time passed since the last time they kissed...the kiss... it felt so familiar. She felt fire burning through her veins as his mouth led hers in a slow yet passionate waltz. She weaves her fingers through his hair pulling him closer to her. She missed him...she wanted him... she needed more of him. He wrapped his arm around her waist pulling her closer as he tasted her. Mercedes' lungs were aching with the need for air but she did not care...she wanted this ecstasy to last as long as it could.

She knew this was wrong...she knew this was so wrong. She had a boyfriend...a boyfriend who loved her. But hell she missed Sam. She missed his kisses. She missed his eyes green eyes. She missed how gentle his hands felt over her skin. She missed how they would lie under the stars talking. She missed how he smelled. She missed how he always tasted like cherry lip balm. She missed every part of him when he was gone and she was sick of lying to herself and telling herself she was over him. So she kissed him like it was the first and last time pouring all her frustration, pain, want and need into it.

The need for air was too great to ignore and forced the couple apart. Sam's face hovered inches from hers his nose touching hers as he looked into her eyes. She bit her lip as Sam tucked a curl behind her ear. She closed her eyes letting the warmth of his touch run through her body whilst he rested his forehead against hers. She basked in the intimacy and the familiarity of his touch for a minute or so before she remembered they were in public...and that she had a boyfriend.

She pulled away as if Sam just burned her at the realization that this was wrong. She did not do these things. She was not a cheater and she refused to be one.

"I-I that-that...I have to go." Mercedes said getting to her feet. Sam grabbed her arm stopping her from walking away. He stood up with her arms still in his grasp looking her deep in the eyes.

"Mercedes, you can keep on telling me you're over me, you can lie to Shane too but you can't lie to yourself." He said before letting her go leaving her to ponder on his words as he walked away from her

 _And we will fly_

 _Like smoke darkin' the skies_

 _I'm Eve, I want to try_

 _Take a bite_

* * *

She bit her lip as she looked up at him. He pressed his palms on either side of her head against the wall. His face hovered mere inches from her, his nose touching hers. He could see the excitement in her eyes mixed with the adoration...all for him. He pressed a gentle kiss to her lip before pulling away and resting his forehead against hers.

Mercedes closed her eyes breathing him in. He smelled of Radox Spring body wash and Axe body spray that she loved his manly scent.

In the back of her mind she knew this was wrong. Making out with her ex-boyfriend in an abandoned part of the school while she had a boyfriend was so wrong...but damn it felt so right. Being with Sam felt so right.

She stood on the tip of her toes placing a small kiss on his lips.

"When are you going to tell him?" Sam asked.

It started a few weeks ago: they have been doing this for the past two weeks; secret rendezvous. After the lake kissing episode, things were tense between them for a few weeks until Sam restarted his heavy flirting.

She tried staying away...she tried ignoring her heart but she just gave up. She was tired of fighting so she stopped and gave into her heart's desire. She and Sam were now _'dating but not really'._ She cannot remember how _this_ _thing_ started but she knew she did not want _'this_ ' to end.

"I haven't found the right time yet," Mercedes explained.

She was planning on breaking up with Shane...she was but every time she wanted to he would look at her with eyes full adoration making her swallow her words. His eyes were so hopeful and full of love...it was suffocating,

"Mercedes, you said you'd tell him-"

"I know, I know and I will," Mercedes whispered against his full lips wrapping her arms around his waist. "I promise. I just have to find the right time." She said standing on the tip of her toes and pressed a sugar sweet kiss to his lips as the school bell rang in the distance.

* * *

 _So come on now_

 _strike the match, strike the match now_

 _We're a perfect match, perfect match somehow_

 _We were meant for one another_

 _Come a little closer_

He was not in a good mood today. Hearts and pictures of half-naked babies with wings and bow and arrows lined the walls of McKinley high school. Valentines fever was in the air ...and in all honesty it was suffocating; all the couples were celebrating their love for one another, sucking face in the halls and walking around with stars in their eyes while his 'girl' was attached to Shane's hip parading around the halls and acting all loved-up.

The guy looked at her like a lovesick puppy...it made him sick...with guilt. The guy was staring at Mercedes- adoration burning in his eyes for a girl who didn't want him that way...

It reminded Sam of his own relationship with Quinn a while ago.

Once upon a time Sam too was madly in love with a girl who did not feel the same...and hell it hurt. Yes, he rebounded with Santana (which still made him cringe to this day) to get back at Quinn but he only did it because he was angry and heartbroken. Sam knew how it felt like to have somebody you cared for break your heart and pulverize the shattered pieces they left behind. He would never wish that pain on anybody.

Sam felt horrible for what he and Mercedes were doing to the poor guy. Sam could see Shane really felt something for Mercedes. But hell, Sam was going to be selfish. He loved her too.

Sam sighed before opening his locker. He took out books for the next classes and shoved them in his backpack. He licked his dry lips and studied his wide assortment of flavored chapstic for the flavor of the day:

"Go with cherry. I like cherry." A familiar voice said behind him.

With a smile painted on his face, he turned to her.

"Yeah? Want to do a taste test?"

She smiled up at him rolling her eyes. Sam resisted the urge to kiss her by distracted himself with the task at hand- choosing a flavor. He went for the cherry that he was eager to have her taste later. He quickly applied some before shoving it into his jean pocket before looking down at her. Sam loved their height difference; he loved feeling like her tall protector even though his smart-mouth girl was far from a damsel in distress.

"We can still go to Sugar's party. Shane always has a 'date' with his Nana on Valentines Day. They eat shrimp cocktail and watch 'Say Anything'. So I'm with him from 5 to 7, but then I'm all yours."

Sam closed his locker with sigh deciding to bite the bullet.

"Sneaking around, it's not right. It's not who we are." He said softly.

He could see his words struck a chord by the shame in her eyes. They were not sneaky people. If there was one thing they prided themselves on it was their loyalty and honesty. They were losing themselves in this lie.

"I know what you feel. But if you can't pull the trigger...we're done." He said leaving her to think about what he said.

* * *

 _Flame you came to me._

 _Fire meet gasoline._

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _I'm burning alive_

 _I can barely breathe_

 _When you're here loving me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _fire meet gasoline_

 _I got all I need_

 _When you came after me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _I'm burning alive_

 _And I can barley breathe_

 _When you're here loving me_

 _Fire meet gasoline_

 _Burn with me tonight_

She was playing with fire...she knew it. And like the saying goes _'if you play with fire you are going to get burnt_ '. Someone was going to get hurt; either her, Shane or Sam. She never though she would be that girl- juggling the attention of two boys at once. She swore to herself she would never be like the other girls in Glee Club- a cheater.

She was a cheater.

She hated it.

But she did not want to hurt Shane and she loved Sam. He was her first love, her first kiss. He was the one thing her heart desired and like a moth to a flame, she was helpless to his pull. He was like fire to an arsonist. Addicting.

When she was with Sam every nerve in her body felt on fire. Her heart drummed against the barricade of her chest. What he made her feel was addicting. His calloused hands holding her and causing a missile launch in her heart. His soft creamy skin gently brushing against hers when the walk passed one another in the halls caused tingles down her spine. And his eyes...those beautiful green eyes she fell in love all those months ago engulfed her with the love and adoration they held in them...all for her. Then there were those lips. Those soft lips that felt and tasted like cotton candy on hers. Sam's kisses were deadly to her. It felt like explosions in her soul. Every nerve burns with want.

The thing she had with Shane it did not hold a flame to what she had with Sam. Things with Shane were comfortable. Nice. His kisses were...okay. Nothing special happened to her body when she kissed him. Her pulse did not quicken; her toes did not curl in ecstasy. But she still cared for him deeply. He was a good boyfriend; supportive, caring, a good listener, he envisioned a future with her. What he lacked though was humor and fun. He was always so serious.. He did not understand funny internet memes. He did not get her secret obsession with so terrible it's good movies like Scary Movie or Sharknado. He thought, though never said aloud, her love for her childhood cartoons were somewhat childish. Even though they were total opposites what they had worked. He loved her with all her quirks. He was loyal to her.

Loyal...

That was once a word she would use to describe herself.

She needed to stop this.

Quinn's words got her thinking. She did have to look at the hard topics and dilemmas and be honest. She needed to be honest with Shane and tell him about the 'thing' she had with Sam. If she wanted to stand before God clean on Judgment Day, she would have to. Her faith demanded utter honesty no matter the situation.

She spilled her guts to Shane and he was devastated. All Mercedes could do was drown in her shame. She then told Sam she ended it with Shane. Yes, just like he she thought that they could then be together but then she realized in all of the madness she lost herself. She lost her loyalty. She lost her honesty. She lost her morals. She did not know who she was anymore and until she found herself again; she would have to walk this road alone so she told Sam they could not be together.

 _Bit it's a bad debt_

 _Certain death_

 _But I want what I want_

 _And I gotta get it_

 _When the fire dies_

 _Darkened skies_

 _Hot ash, dead match_

 _Only smoke is left_

 _But it's a bad debt_

 _Certain death_

 _But I want what I want_

 _And I got to get it_

 _When the fire dies_

 _Dark in the skies_

 _Hot as a match_

 _only smoke is left._

* * *

Sam was heart broken. In these past few months, he has gone through so many emotions all because of Mercedes Jones but he still could not stop thinking about her. What he had with Mercedes...it was special. It was more than just a high school fling. It was real. Yeah, having such strong feelings for a person at such a young age some would say is 'foolish'. But Sam knew what he felt for her and if she needed some space to sort out all she was feeling and find herself again he would give it to her even if it did hurt him.

She came in to his life like a ball of fire engulfing everything she touches...every part of him in her flames. After they broke up there was nothing but ash left. However, he still wanted her. He still wanted her warmth and light in his life no matter how much she hurt him...

'That's why Finn always went back to Rachel.'

Sam could now finally understand why Finn and Rachel were constantly getting back together after things did not work out for them. Maybe they also knew that they were meant for one another and gravity just pulled them together.

Sam stared at the variety of chapstic in his locker, a gentle smile graced his lips when he thought back to the scene between him and Mercedes a few days ago. He chose the cherry chapstic and applied it to his lips before putting it back and grabbing the needed books for his next class. He closed his locker and saw Mercedes and Santana coming around the corner towards him. She stopped stared at him wide-eyed for a few seconds before grabbing her friend's arm turning around and nearly sprinting away from him as if he was Hannibal Lector.

Mercedes was ignoring him. She would not look at him in Glee. She ran away whenever it seemed like the two of them would be alone in close proximity. Last week when he was buying some chewing gum at the same convenient store she was in, Mercedes tried hiding behind a shelf of potato chips to avoid him and accidentally knocked it over.

Her face- hilarious.

What was not hilarious was the fact that he missed her. He missed texting her. He missed calling her. He missed joking around with her. He missed kissing her. He missed holding her. He hated that they saw each other everyday but did not talk with one another.

Sam sighed and closed his locker door before going to Glee club. He entered the room to find most of his club members already seated except for Mercedes, Santana and Britney. Mr. Schue asked him to take a seat. Mercedes avoided his gaze as he walked around the ridiculously expensive dance floor.

At times Sam wondered how Mr. Schue got all these props when the Glee club's budget was nonexistent.

Sam sat down next to Puck at the back of the room. Sam immediately recognized the song Mercedes was going to sing. Kurt forced him to watch the movie _Saturday Night Fever since_ it was Mr. Schue's new obsession for the week. Sam took his phone out of his pocket and video recorded the performance.

Mercedes was a born performer. The stage was her home. Music was in her DNA. When Mercedes sang she oozed confidence and she oozed happiness. When Mercedes sang, she demanded your attention. She was so infectious. He even saw Sue doing a little shoulder shimmy.

Seeing her so happy...it made him happy. He just wants Mercedes to be happy.

After the performance, once everybody stopped clapping Mercedes spoke up:

"Alright I have an announcement to make. Contrary to current opinion-" Aka Mr. Schue and Sue. "-I do have a dream." Mercedes smiled "See my dream is Mariah. It's Whitney- rest in peace. It's Aretha-"

"Those are people." Mr. Schue interrupted. "They aren't dreams-"

"My dream is to be like them to sing big fat juicy hits that inspire people." Mercedes said before she sighed. "But how is that supposed to happen even if I move to L.A I wouldn't know what to do...or where to go. It's scary to even think about of moving all the way across the country."

Sam could hear the frustration and fear of failure in her voice.

"I'm moving to New York, Mercedes." Rachel said trying to relate.

Sam rolled his eyes. Of course, Rachel would make this about her too.

"You have somewhere to stay. You'll have something to do." Mercedes paused. "You have two parents that support you. My dad is a dentist...he thinks my dream is unreasonable." Mercedes said. "You know what, he's right. I don't know the first thing about getting a recording contract or a manager-"

"The cream always rises to the top, Mercedes." Mr. Schue said interrupting her again.

"I'm cream in here, Mr. Schue...but what if out there I'm just skim milk?"

The insecurity in her voice broke his heart.

He was serious when he said her name would be up in lights one day. She was so talented that she could reach every single one of her dreams. Mercedes needed to be on a stage singing her heart out, which was what God put her on this earth to do.

Sam looked down at his phone and played the video he just recorded. Suddenly an idea struck him...

 _Youtube._

Cody Simpson, Psy and of course Justin Bieber. If it worked for them, it could work for Mercedes Jones. Sam opened his browser and went on Youtube to upload the video

* * *

The video Sam posted of Mercedes had over 63,000 views on Youtube in only two days. He was so excited he needed to share it with someone. He wanted to show her how talented she was. She could make it in the music industry.

He walked through the halls of McKinley High in search of Mercedes so he could share the news with her. She needed to see this. After ten minutes of wandering the halls in search of her. He finally found her in conversation with Kurt at her locker. He walked towards the friends readjusting the book bag on his shoulder as she slammed her locker shut and listened to Kurt.

"Hey, Mercedes."

Her eyes grew twice there size before she looked to Kurt for help. However, the boy quickly turned on his heel and disappeared around a corner.

"I know we haven't talked much but I have something that I need to show you."

He could see the uncertainty in her eyes.

"It'll be quick. Four minutes tops."

Mercedes sighed before nodding at him.

Sam smiled at the short girl before turning around and leading her into a nearby empty classroom. He held the door open for like a gentleman before closing it behind him.

"No more songs, Sam."

"One more." He said opening the laptop and sitting down next to her. "This time I'm not the one singing."

The laptop's screen filled with a Youtube video of her singing with Santana and Brittany as her background singers and dancers. They watched the video in silence for a few seconds only with the music from the laptop until Mercedes slowly said:

"That's me."

Sam smiled at her.

"Yeah-"

"Wait, did you post this to Youtube without asking?" She asked shocked.

"Can you hear yourself? You're amazing...and you look stunning." He said looking into her eyes. The sincerity in them astounded her

"485 comments...I can't look." She said about to push the laptop away.

"No, look," Sam said scrolling down. "484 of them are positive. One of them was disappointed because they thought Mercedes Inferno was a car video."

Mercedes felt a lump in her throat.

"I can't believe you did this for me. Why?"

"Because I believe in you and what you could become," He said without missing a beat. He looked into her big brown eyes. "Now complete strangers believe in you too. You just need to find a way out to L.A and do your thing. It's time this dream stops being a dream and becomes a reality." He said softly smiling. "Listen to them; they all want to buy your album. So do I."

Mercedes smiled. He believed in her. He believed in what she could become.

"You ain't no skim milk baby. You're the cream rising to the top."

Mercedes gave a small laugh as Sam leaned closer to her making her close her eyes. He pressed his warm palm to her cheek and kissed. The kiss started slow before becoming more passionate. His large but gentle hands were still cupping her cheeks. She bit her lip casting her gaze down overwhelmed with the emotion shinning in his green eyes.

"You want to come over...after school?" She asked looking up from the table. "My parents are celebrating their twenty-third wedding anniversary so they are away for the weekend. We can watch a movie...and talk ...or I don't know."

 _She sounded so awkward._

"Yeah...I'd like that. But where does this leave us?" Sam asked.

Their relationship thus far has been so confusing.

"Can we talk about this later? School isn't where I want to have this conversat-"

"Merc-"

"Sam, please." Mercedes interrupted. "We can talk about this later at my house and then we can watch movies...as long as it is not horror movies. I cannot have those images in my head tonight when I am all alone in darkness. At least it is just for tonight. I'm spending Saturday with Santana and Saturday night all the Glee girls are going to Sugar's 'Sugarlicious Sleepover Extravaganza'"

Sam sighed and decided to let it go until later.

"I could sleep over if you like so you won't be alone. I can make up a lie that I am sleeping over at Mike's. Mike, Finn and Kurt will cover for me."

"That would be nice." Mercedes said with a smile. "But my mom asked our nosy neighbor to keep an eye over the house. So we can't have Mrs. Jenson seeing you and rating us out to my parents."

The bell for her next class rang forcing her to her feet.

"I'll see you later?"

Sam nodded sucking on his bottom lip. Mercedes pressed a kiss to his cheek before leaving the room.

* * *

"It's like this girl wants to die." Sam said before popping a hand full of popcorn into his mouth. "A normal person runs away from the noise not towards it."

They were watching movies on her laptop cuddling. This was the first time ever she and Sam would be spending the night together. After a long discussion about their relationship, they decided to give it another try. This time no secrets. Just them loving one another and enjoying the time they had left with one another.

"I told you I didn't want to watch a scary movie," Mercedes complained as the masked psychotic serial killer stabbed the blonde girl repeatedly.

She was sure she was going to replay these scenes her minds in the middle of the night when she needed to go pee.

Sam grinned down at her tightening his hold on her "It's just a movie and besides you have me to protect you from all the badies of the night."

Mercedes rested her back against his chest looking up at him.

"That doesn't really make me feel better. Remember when I had to walk you to the bathroom after we watched The Conjuring?"

"Get your facts straight; it was the first time I've ever been at your house and I had no idea where the bathroom was."

"Sam, stop lying. We both know you were afraid"

Sam rolled his eyes at his girlfriend putting the bowl of popcorn down on the bedside table. He tightly snaked his arms around her waist hugging her tightly as he buried his face in her neck breathing her in. He missed this- just holding her and relishing in her presence.

Mercedes sighed making herself comfortable in his arms. Mercedes readjusted the laptop resting on her Spongebob & Patrick clad lap.

"How come you always smell like apples?" Sam hoarsely whispered.

Mercedes shrugged.

"I'm just too delicious for my own good."

Sam laughed before kissing the side of her neck making her sigh.

She paused the movie and placed the laptop down next them. She turned in his arms sitting on her knees in front of him and kissed him. As his lips danced with hers tingles ran up her spine. She could feel his gentle hands on her hips.

She missed kissing him. She missed touching him.

"I love you...and I missed you." Sam whispered against her lips once the kiss ended. He pulled away slightly so he could study her face bathed in the soft light of the bedside lamp. He gently cupped her right cheek staring into her big brown eyes.

"I missed you too. And I love." She whispered before gently pressing another kiss to his lips and pulling away.

She turned in his arms and rested her back against his chest. She pressed her knees together bringing her knees to her chest balancing the laptop. She unpaused the thriller before making herself comfortable against Sam's chest. He tightened his arms around her as he rested his chin on her head.

Finally, after months of fighting and missing her he finally had her in his arms.


	13. This is where I sleep

**This was born out of pure boredom so there is not a song to go with this.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

* * *

Her bladder awoke her from her deep slumber. She groaned before making her way to the bathroom to relieve herself and returning to bed, closing her eyes waiting for Mr. Sandman to make his appearance yet again.

He never came.

Her body was exhausted but her mind refused to shut down.

She turns on her side sparing a glance at her alarm clock knowing that it was nowhere near sunrise yet. Her suspicion is verified by the red numerals on the alarm announcing it was 2am.

She sighs before getting to her feet again and deciding to go make herself a steaming cup of chamomile tea in the hopes of falling asleep again. Mercedes slips on her slippers and makes her way to the kitchen downstairs; carefully slow and quiet not to wake her roommates.

She is extra careful not to make a peep when she made her way downstairs not wanting to wake her boyfriend who was sleeping on the couch.

Boyfriend.

The word brought warmth to her soul and a smile to her sleepy face. They have only been dating for two days now but Sam Evans already caused her heart to skip several beats just thinking of him.

She tiptoes when she reaches the living area she needs to walk through to get to the kitchen. To her surprise, the kitchen light was already on and in the middle of the kitchen stands Sam letting her know her attempts at being a silent ninja were futile.

She studied her boyfriend, who was busy devouring a piece of left over pizza. His pale creamy skin glows under the lights of the kitchen. His blonde hair sticks in different directions giving him the face of pure boyish innocence.

He ducked into the fridge once again, this time remerging with a bottle of Vitamin Water. He was in the process of straightening his spine before hissing in pain and pressing the hand holding the bottle to his lower back.

"You, okay?" Mercedes asked worriedly as she makes her way towards her boyfriend.

Sam pulls a face as he slowly straightens up.

"Yeah, I just need to get used to that couch of yours," Sam answers as Mercedes helps him to a nearby chair.

She bites her lip overcome with guilt. Here she was sleeping on a queen-sized bed whilst her baby was suffering in silence on a hard couch.

"I'm sorry."

He gives her sleepy smile.

"I'll survive." He takes another bite of his pizza. "So, why aren't you asleep, my Sleeping Beauty?"

She grins before placing a soft kiss on his cheek and making her way to the kettle to make herself a cup of tea.

"I can't sleep," Mercedes explained as she stands on the tip of her toes trying to reach for a teacup in the cupboard. This was exactly the reason that Mercedes despises Sam at times. He knew she was as tall as a freaking Minion was but still he went on packing things on high shelves he knew she couldn't reach.

"You could help," Mercedes says looking over her shoulder.

"Neh, I'm enjoying the view too much."

His eyes shine with mirth as he nods at her pink clad buttocks.

She huffs pulling her pyjama shirt down over her generous buttocks he was blatantly admiring. She crosses her arms over her chest letting him silently know that she was not amused at all.

He got up and made his way over to her glaring form, wearing a smirk on his face. He presses his body flush against hers pressing her lower back into the waist-high counter. He leans over her and grabs the cup all whilst focusing his gaze on her. He puts the cup down next to her leaning closer.

Their noses are touching. Their lips were only a few millimetres apart. She can feel his warmth everywhere soaking through her skin igniting a fire in her bones.

Oh how she forgot how strongly her body reacted to his.

"Happy?" He whispers.

"Ecstatic." She whispers back.

She could feel his arrogant smile dancing over her lips before he leans in and kisses her. The kiss is soft and sweet; lips slowly danced savouring the gentle caresses of their partner. He licks her lips asking for entrance. She grants him his request while running her fingers through his messy blonde locks.

His gentle tongue runs over each corner of her mouth tasting her. She strokes his tongue with her own. Her taste buds are tingling at the sensation his tongue gives and she realizes she has never tasted anything…anyone so delicious.

The need for air drives them apart reluctantly. Mercedes swears is she had the lungs of a dolphin all she would do is lay in Sam's arms and kiss her days away, only resurfacing for air every 15 minutes. He was just so damn good with that trouty mouth of his.

"That was-"

"-wow." Mercedes breathless continues his sentence before opening her eyes to find his were still shut as he basked in the heavy intimacy surrounding them.

She smiles against his lips as she gently runs her fingers- that were already in his hair, through his blond locks. He opens his eyes; their vibrant colour taking her breath away. He presses another soft kiss to her lips adjusting his arms around her waist.

"I missed this. I missed us," he says.

She casts her eyes down not able to take the heavy onslaught of emotion in his eyes. Sam was a boy…no a man who was always so reckless with his heart. He loved too easily and that scared her. It scared her then and it scares her now.

She feels the rough skin on his fingertips gently scrape against her chin. She closes her eyes at the sensation whilst he lifted her head. She always loved his hands. Sam Evans had many features to admire; his smile, his green eyes…his wonderful six pack but it were his hands she loved the most. They were rough from hard work yet so gentle when they touched her. She knew he helped Burt Hummel in his garage and when he went home to his parents he would help his father with construction work. He had all this strength in his palms but he was gentle with her as if she was a delicate flower.

"Merce, look at me please."

She opens her eyes.

"Why do you always do this, Mercedes?" Sam asked.

"What?" She asks with feigned innocence.

He rolls his eyes at the young woman in his arms.

"Merce."

There's a slight pause before she speaks; her voice ringing with apprehension.

"It's scary, Sam."

He looks down at her, comprehension dawning on his face. What they had was deep, real and overwhelming. Their relationship has always been intense. Their feelings for one another ran too deep for their age.

"I know," Sam whispers before kissing her forehead. "I know but that doesn't change the fact that we love each other…that maybe just maybe Samcedes is endgame."

She cannot help but smile as she hugs him tightly. As she rests against his chest and listens to his drumming heart, she feels a yawn growing in her throat making tears spring in her eyes.

Maybe that cup of tea was not needed. Sam's presence seemed to be the cure for her restlessness. She looks up at him with timidity burning in her gaze. She chose valour and asked:

"D'you want to sleep with me?"

Only after the words left her mouth did she realize how badly chosen they were.

"I-I don't mean it like that…I just…"Her cheeks are ablaze with embarrassment acting as accelerant. "I-I mean, I have this big bed and you have to suffer in silence on the couch. So you can share…a bed…with me…if you want to…"

This would be the first time she shared her bed with anyone who was not female. Her father would have a fit if he knew she was offering a boy- no man, Samuel Evans was all man, the opportunity to share a bed with her.

Sam grinned before pressing his lips to hers for another gentle kiss.

"I'd love to."

"No funny business, though," Mercedes warned lifting a finger at him.

He smiles that lopsided grin that makes her heart skip several beats.

"Oh…I never," he says with a wink.

With her tea forgotten they made their way out of the kitchen. She takes his hand leading him upstairs into her room. Her heart was drumming in her chest as she climbs in bed waiting for him to do the same.

"You realize this is not taking it slow; sleeping with me is the exact opposite," he says as he climbs in after her. Sam notes the bedding smells like her; floral with a hint of citrus.

She pushes his shoulder slightly for the dirty joke. It did not faze him at all. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead again.

"Night, Cedes."

"Night, Sammy."

Minutes later she fell asleep in his arms with a soft smile on her face. She realized that she could get used to this.

* * *

 **And that folks is how they ended up sharing a bed in my head. Like I said this was born out of boredom.**

 **I am still struggling with Our Story *sigh*. I began with the next chapter but it is still far from finished. Since I am running dry on that story, I decided to work on another one shot to get the creative juices flowing again. I know some of you guys are royally p***** with me and want me to update but writing a story is really hard. Sometimes inspiration just does not wanna make an appearance so please bare with me whilst I try to get out of my writing funk.**

 **Thanks for your support and love!**

 **TheAmazingLT**

 **(I totally said that in a boxing announcer's voice)**

 **Review?**


	14. Chapter 14

Part **II of the one shot I posted earlier**

* * *

He felt her groan in his mouth eliciting an arrogant smirk from him. He felt her soft gentle hands on either side of his neck holding him hostage…not that he was complaining at all. He rolled his tongue around in her mouth: something that drove her crazy. His tongue skillfully dances circles around hers. He can taste her on his taste buds. He can feel her warmth through her clothes.

His hands gently graze her calves…knees…thighs…hips…

Before his hands could continue their exploration of her body further, he felt her palms stilling them in place without breaking the kiss. She rolls him over tangling them in the covers. She breaks the kiss. He can feel her thighs on either side of his waist.

"Bad boy," she whispers looking down at him.

He shrugs with a smile on his face. She wanted to take it slow. She wanted to wait until their relationship was out of its infancy before encaging in anything physical with him. Sam had no idea why she wanted to wait; he loved her she loved him. Why did she not want consummate their relationship?

He wanted to be with her but she was a tough cookie. However, that did not stop Sam; he was in full seduction mode: wearing nothing but boxers, and on cold nights warm pajama pants to bed. He had packets of condoms on display at places he knew she would find them like the bathroom cabinet…her bedside table even in the fridge: all in the hopes that she would get the hint.

She did not.

She was still adamant on waiting a while.

"Merce, this is torture," Sam groans childishly as he runs his fingers over her thighs with a pout.

Mercedes bites her lip. It is not that she did not find him physically attractive: her body was on fire when he so much as looked at her. She stops breathing when he runs his fingers down her spine. Her legs go numb when he kisses her.

But, there was a reason she did not want to go further than kissing yet. She was a virgin. She was also a Christian God serving good girl. She was raised to believe her body is a temple and the keys to her kingdom were supposed to be a wedding ring. Her spirit wanted her to wait before sharing herself with somebody in such an intimate manner.

She was supposed to be holy and pure. She made a promise to herself- she would stay pure until her wedding night. It was a promise she made when Quinn was pregnant with Beth. When she made the promise, her reason was to avoid teen pregnancy but as the years went by, she realized her virginity was something special…her body was something sacred and she was going to wait for the man God made for her to share that with.

Sam was blurring the lines with his soft kisses and soft, trained calloused hands. He was making abstinence a difficult task; so difficult she was actually contemplating on giving him her virginity even though she had reservations about it.

She needed guidance before taking such a step. She needed to choose what to listen to: her spirit or her flesh. She also needed to speak to Sam about it but every time she tried a wave of embarrassment and timidity would wash her.

"You said we can take it slow," Mercedes said trying to get off his bare torso.

He snaked his arms around her before she could get up. He studies the beauty above him showering under the white light of the moon coming through the window. She looked like a fantasy- something too beautiful to be true.

"I know, Merce…it's just getting hard...figuratively and… literally," Sam explains. "I…I just…it is hard feeling and seeing but not being allowed to touch." He grins running an appreciative glance over her body hiding under her silk pyjamas. "And there is so much to touch."

She wanted to hit against the head for the comment but she could not help feel a little proud that he enjoyed what he saw just as much as she enjoyed what she saw when she looked at him.

She sighed taking his hands and pressing kisses on his knuckles.

"I know Sam…but I'm not there yet."

He takes a deep breath before painting a gentle smile on his face.

"I'm sorry for being such a hormonal dog." He apologizes with a groan for trying to pressure her into something she was not ready for yet.

She leans down and kisses him ever so gently on the lips.

"You're far from a hormonal dog," she says getting off him and laying down next to him. "Hold me?"

He wraps his arms around his love pulling her against his chest. He places one of his large warm hands on her cheeks lifting her face so he could look into her eyes as he speaks:.

"I really love you Mercedes and I will wait for you."

She hugs him burying her nose into his collarbone.

"I love you too, Sammy," she whispers against his hot flesh.

She closes her eyes basking in the warmth his presence brought and the security she felt only when she was in his arms.

"One day, I'm going to marry you, Merce."

He sounded so sure of himself. Mercedes opened her eyes to see his eyes held the same promise. She swore her heart melted in her chest.

"Sam, we've only been together for a little while now."

"Mercedes, a man knows when he has found the love of his life," Sam says running his fingers over her jaw and neck. "I've known it since we dated during summer vacation. I am just waiting until we both reach our goals in life and reach a point in life where all we want is each other and a family. I promise you Mercedes the second after you win that first Grammy, I'll ask you for your hand in marriage."

Mercedes was sure her heart just melted in her chest.

"Sam."

All she could say was his name not knowing how to reply.

He smiles at her before pressing his lips on the bridge of her small button nose and continuing painting a picture of their future together with his words.

"After our wedding we're going to disappear for a few months and just love each other until I am forced to share you with the world again. Then you are gonna carry our beautiful babies- two boys and a little princess as beautiful as her mom. The two older boys have to protect her from boys because trust me, with her mommy's smile and eyes she's gonna have a few hearts trying to fight for her attention."

"You're too sweet."

"Just being honest, babe." He smiles at her noting her eyes growing weary. "You go to sleep, my Sleeping Beauty."

Mercedes smiles at him making herself comfortable against his chest.

"Talk to me about our future until I fall asleep?"

He kisses her forehead.

"What my Sleeping Beauty, wants she gets."

That night she dreams about white picket fences, caramel kids with wild curls and innocent green eyes. She dreams about food fights and Labradors acting as vacuums to clean the mess. She dreams about beautiful chaos and laughter. She dreams about small bodies lying between her and Sam seeking comfort in the middle of the night as the wind howls outside the windows, and thunder roars in the heavens. She dreams about Sunday morning struggles trying to get the kids ready for Sunday school. She dreams about a beautiful, and maybe a tad idealistic, life with Samuel Dwight Evans and their ridiculously named children- Marvel, DC and Bruce-Wayne.

* * *

 **I do not know where this came from *shrugs*. I let my boredom take over and this- part II, was born.**

 **(PS: I don't know when I'll be updating Our Story. I want to but the inspiration for that story just left me. So please do not ask me to update. I feel like a butt when guest reviewers ask me to update and I cannot message them to explain why I am taking so long to come up with an update.)**

 **Anyway, hope you liked this one shot.**

 **Lala out**!


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